


Lucis Filium Alterum

by Mysterious_Prophetess



Series: Children of Light [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU after Alitssia for the FF XV group, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, F/M, Gen, Slight chapter 13 spoilers, Sora and the Chocobros
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 06:09:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 47,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10984974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterious_Prophetess/pseuds/Mysterious_Prophetess
Summary: The Rite of the Leviathan is interrupted first by the Empire and then by a giant monster of living darkness creating a large orb in the sky.Noctis is ripped from his friends, and Luna, by this darkness and awakens on a new world, being shaken awake by Sora. Sora and Noctis agree to work together to find their friends, and along the way they might just save the worlds with the help of Donald and Goofy.





	1. When Darkness falls

Ardyn approached the weakened Oracle just after her precious King had been handed his ass to him by the Hydrean. That child was progressing nicely, but now it was time to narrow his focus a bit. He was about to plunge his dagger into the vile flesh of the Oracle whenever something made the Accursed One pause. The sky was going dark in the middle of the day? Was the blasted royal brat summoning? No. He lay senseless after Leviathan had battered him. Pathetic. That was the King of Light? The True King? Ardyn’s eyes landed on the Oracle once more and her blue eyes were staring past him, and were wide with terror. Something he’d never seen her show in his presence ever. Interesting. He followed her gaze and there was something in the sky. A dark ball of energy that made it night over Altissia, and likely the whole of the world of Eos. Fascinating, and yet that creature was usurping his destiny! It was he and not this second rate monster that was to bring darkness to Eos! He was the bringer of the Starscourge!

“Let’s call this “to be continued,” shall we?” Ardyn said placing his hat back on. His ride was there. He was going to do what he must to keep his plans on track.

_He had suffered too long to be derailed now!_

———————————————————————————————————————

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Luna to her loved ones and Oracle to the masses, could only feel terror at what she saw in the sky. Nothing in her tenure as Oracle or what she knew of her destiny had prepared her for anything like this. The darkness she could feel pouring off the creature was overwhelming. Ardyn Izunia, the man who felt of many daemons, seemed to be annoyed by its presence. She knew she needed to make sure Noctis was alright, but she was so far away from him and too weak to make it to him, but then, the force from the sphere pulled on her more. No! She clung to the altar but it was no use. She and the trident were pulled into the sky. Noctis was as well. She fought through the air currents to get to him. He was still out cold.She held him close and focused some of her power to try to heal him, but she was too weak. Instead, all she could do was slip the Ring of the Lucii into his jacket pocket and try to keep a hold of him and the trident. The forces sought to rip them apart just as he stirred.

“L-luna?” he said. She smiled at him just before she was wrenched away from him, gripping the trident.

“Luna!” Noctis yelled.

“Noctis!” she reached for him but it was no use. The forces ripped at her sending her tumbling through a cold dark that pulled at her very being. She lost consciousness soon after.

 

———————————————————————————————————————

Elsewhere, another was experiencing the same situation. The location was the Destiny Islands and the other was Sora. He tried to hang onto the docks but he lost his grip and fell into the sky. The crushing dark and cold pulled at him along with the exhaustion from fighting for his life with that strange key weapon he called into existence somehow. He thought he heard screaming but everything went black.

———————————————————————————————————————

Riku pushed himself up. He was on another world! Around him there was a set of waterfalls rising up.

“Hello? Anyone? Where am I?” He said standing. He looked over and saw a woman in a ruined white dress with blonde hair falling out of her hair style was lying face down nearby on another platform. He leapt over to her and saw there was also an impressive weapon next to her. A trident. He’d not seen one of these outside a history book. She was stirring. She pushed herself up and she was easily one of the most beautiful women Riku had ever seen.

“Are you alright?” he asked. She looked at him and gave him a small smile.

“I’ll be fine in time.” She used the trident to help herself stand.

“I’m Riku.”

“Luna.” She tensed and looked ahead. Riku followed her gaze.

———————————————————————————————————————

Noctis awoke to someone shaking him.

“Oh, you’re alive!” 

Noctis blinked a few times to clear his vision and it cleared revealing a boy’s face. The boy kind of looked familiar. He sat up and he was sore. It came rushing back to him. Altissia. The Leviathan. Luna. **_Luna_**!

“Luna!” Noctis stood holding his side.

“Is Luna someone you’re looking for?” the boy asked.

“Yes.”

“I have people I’m trying to find too. Sora.”

“Noctis.”

“We’re somewhere…strange. I was on my Island, this monster showed up, there was this giant ball of darkness in the sky, and then I woke up here.” Noctis remembered being ripped away from Luna in the sky beneath a dark orb. Wait. His friends! If he was flung gods knew where then the others must have been too! He had to regroup with them.

“I have to find my friends.” 

“Want to join me?” Sora asked, “Since we both have people to look for.” Noctis couldn’t see why not. He followed Sora out of the alley and into a town square that looked about two hundred years behind what Insomnia was, yet there were electric lights, at least. Something moved and a shadow pealed itself out of the ground. A shadow with eyes and antenae. Noctis summoned a sword and saw his companion summoned a key-sword?

“It appeared just before my Islands….” Sora said. Noctis had seen stranger, so he charged ahead and slashed the monsters with his blade and turned it into a puff of shadowy smoke. Sora had taken down a few too.There were near a shop that was simply called “Accessories.” Noctis hoped it meant battle and not fashion.

“Fall in here,” Noctis said gesturing to the shop.

“On it!” Sora said following him. They backed into the shop and a gruff voice made him freeze.

“What’re ya doin’ in here!" He turned around. This man could have been Cid’s son. The man stared at him too.

“Hey gramps, what’s going on!” Sora asked.

“Don’t call me gramps!” Sora cringed at the volume and Noctis snapped out of it. “Where are you from?”

“The Destiny Islands.” Sora said.

“And you?” Cid looked directly at Noctis.

“Insomnia.” Noctis crossed his arms.

“The Crown City?” Cid said stroking his chin.

“You know it?” Noctis said.

“Lived near it once with my old man. Then ran afoul of something and ended up on Radiant Garden for a spell. Now I’m here in Traverse Town. Name’s Cid.”

“You’re Cid’s son?” Noctis said.

“You know him, City Boy?”

“Am I …..missing something?” Sora asked.

“It’s a long story. You’re not on your Islands anymore than he’s on Eos at the moment. Your worlds must have fallen in t’ darkness. I only hope my Pa and my little niece Cindy made it off world,” Cid said, “You look an awful lot like someone in a picture my Pa kept from his younger days. You’re Regis’s son, ain’t ya? The Prince.”

“Prince?” Sora said.

“King. My father is…,” Noctis said he trailed off.

“Regis is dead? Now that is a shame.”

“Could my friends have made it off world like me?” Sora asked interrupting the awkward silence.

“It’s possible. Lots of people who lose their worlds end up here,” Cid said, “This world exists as a haven for those who are between places no thanks to those stinkin’ heartless.”

“Those things that attacked us?” Noctis said.

“Yeah. More troublesome than daemons. Regular weapons just don’t make the cut. Luckily, magic is way more common out here than it is on Eos,” Cid said patting a large gun on his counter, “What’s your name, Your Majesty?”

“Noctis.”

“What about you, brat?”

“Sora,” Sora said.

“Here they come again!” Noctis turned to see more heartless in the doorway, but Cid was ready with his gun.

“Take that suckers!”

“Think looking around this town will help?” Sora asked.

“Can’t hurt,” Noctis said,

———————————————————————————————————————

They exited the shop.

“Where’d you learn to fight?” Noctis asked.

“There’s this guy who teaches any kid on the big Island in town who wants to learn how to fight. I have a friend who uses a blitzball as a weapon,” Sora said. Noctis had seen stranger, considering Iris’s battle-moogle-doll. “How long have you been fighting, uh your majesty?” Noctis saw how uncomfortable Sora was saying that. There must not be kings where he’s from.

“It’s just Noctis or Noct,” Noctis said, “I’ve been fighting a long time. My friend Gladio taught me.”

“Is he one of the ones we’re looking for?” Sora said.

“That’s right.” Noctis nodded taking in more of the towns strangely antiquated decor.

“My best friends Riku and Kairi are who I’m looking for,” Sora said.

“Two of the others I’m looking for are Prompto and Ignis,” Noctis said, “We were in a massive battle before we…before _I_ ended up here.”

“A battle? I hope they’re alright.” Sora said.

“Me too.” Noctis said.

“So who’s Luna? A girl you like?” Sora asked.

“She—She is very important to me,” Noctis said.

“I have someone like that too,” Sora said with a slight blush.

“Kairi?” Noctis said.

“What how—.” Sora blushed even more.

“You smiled when you said the name,” Noctis said.

“She’s great, she’s also what inspired Riku and I to want to leave the Islands. She came from another world and we wanted to see it. Be careful what you wish for, huh?” Sora said.

“Wanting an adventure is not a bad thing,” Noctis said, “They’re just never what you’d think they be.” 

 

More heartless appeared and in different forms from the basic shadow after they crossed through into the Second District. Noctis winced whenever he saw a man get his heart clawed out and he became another heartless. These were once people, but there was nothing else to do but fight. He summoned his weapon and warp struck one while Sora fought off the other.

“Let’s check in there,” Sora said pointing to the Hotel. Noctis nodded and they walked in. Unbeknownst to them, as they entered the hotel, another pair entered the Second District.

“Leeeeonn!”

————————————————————————————————————

“These things are everywhere!” Noctis said. Sora nodded and they charged forwards, this time larger, fatter ones that had bellies that absorbed attacks appeared too. Noctis narrowed his eyes before he warped behind one and attacked proving it was frontal armor only.

“Get behind them!”

“On it!” Sora leapt over one and delivered a few blows to his and it puffed into shadowy smoke and more kept pouring in. Noctis warped behindSora and took down a heartless that was after the teen.

“There’s the exit!” Sora said. Noctis nodded and they finished off the last of them before darting out into the back alley.

——————————————————————————————————————

Donald Duck, Court Sorcerer to King Mickey of Disney Castle and Goofy Dog, Captain of the Royal Guard were on the trail of whomever Leon was. He wasn’t out in the open.

“Let’s check out that Hotel!” Donald said. Goofy nodded and they entered.

“Leeooon!” Goofy said.

“Not again!” Donald said as heartless appeared for them too.

“Gwarsh!”

———————————————————————————————————————

“Sora, catch!” Noctis tossed Sora a potion after they’d taken out a nasty group of heartless, clearing the area, for the moment.

“Thanks!” Sora said, “What do I do with it?”

“Crush it in your hand!” Noctis said as he took down another heartless. Sora nodded and crushed it, feeling better after he did.

“Think we’ll find your friends soon?” Sora asked.

“I hope so. They’re really good in a fight,” Noctis said.

“Riku is, Kairi can be, but she prefers to not fight,” Sora said.

“Let’s try this door,” Noctis said whenever he noticed there was one to the right. They reentered the second district just as Donald and Goofy entered the alley way for the second round of heartless to spawn.

———————————————————————————————————————

“There you are.”

“Bahahaha!” Donald jumped in fright.

“Oh hello, miss, can we help you?” Goofy said.

———————————————————————————————

Noctis and Sora found themselves with no other choice but to get back to the First District. Too many heartless and not enough of them.

“They’ll keep coming after you so long as you wield that keyblade.” Sora looked over to see a man with brown hair with a large blade over his shoulder. The base of the blade looked like an old fashioned revolver chamber.

“Thanks for the tip,” Noctis said, “And you are?”

“Leon. The heartless fear the keyblade and will do anything to get rid of it. Though, why it chose a kid, I’ll never know.”

“Hey!” Sora said.

“Sometimes people are chosen for things and there’s nothing you can do to change it,” Noctis said flatly, “Sora’s been doing fine for a kid.”

“How long will you keep saying that whenever staying near him endangers your very life. I’m sure you have your own friends and family to get back to. Hand over the the keyblade, kid, and you can go.”

“No.” Sora summoned the keyblade and Leon just shrugged and charged. Noctis warped and blocked the hit. Leon seemed surprised by the style of magic and Noctis pressed the advantage. Sora looked dead on his feet and another fight wouldn’t do him any favors. Noctis was beat too. The adrenaline from being found in another world was wearing off and his injuries from Altissia, the kind that not even potions and elixirs could instantly heal, were beginning to make themselves known.

“Noctis!”

“Sora!” Noctis caught a blow to his side where he’d been hit by one of the Leviathan’s fins and he went down gasping.

“Noctis!” Sora leapt over him and engaged Leon. Noctis stood up holding his side and was impressed by Sora even more. Especially when he won, but he was so tired he dropped.

“Sora,” Noct said.

“Relax, we’re not actually going to hurt him, are we Squall?”

“It’s _Leon_.” Leon said.

“Are you ok?” the girl asked him.

“Nothing an elixir and some time not fighting won’t fix,” Nocits said, “Who are you?”

“The Great Ninja, Yuffie Kisaragi,at your service,” the speaker leapt into view. It was a teenage girl. Noctis was reminded of Iris.

“Noctis Lucis Caelum,” Noctis said.

“That’s a mouthful. Like his full name! Squall Leonheart!” Yuffie said.

“It’s **Leon**!” He picked up Sora carrying him over his shoulder. Noctis limped after them clutching his side. He’d use the elixir then but moving would undo the healing. Really good night’s rest would be ideal, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to be getting that.

———————————————————————————————————————

Sora opened his eyes and he could swear it was Kairi leaning over him.

“Kairi?”

“Kairi? I think you overdid it, Squall.” The image of Kairi became Yuffie.

“It’s Leon.” Sora sat up and saw Noctis was dozing in a chair across the room.

“Sleeping beauty over there passed out once he was sure you were ok,” Yuffie said.

“Oh. I’m Sora,” Sora said rubbing the back of his neck, “Why do you have that?” he noticed the keyblade was laid out across the room from him.

“We had to get it away from you to disguise your heart,” Leon said, “But,” Leon held it and it disappeared in a burst of white light, “It appears to have a mind of its own.”

———————————————————————————————————————

“Ansem the Wise was looking into the Heartless before our world fell. He discovered that they were made from the darkness in people’s hearts.” Aerith explained to Donald and Goofy.

“What about King Mickey. He was sending us after someone with a key?” Goofy said.

“Ah yes, the keyblade.” Aerith said.

———————————————————————————————————————

“So, _this_ is the key.” Sora held up the keyblade.

“Is there more than one or is it just Sora?” Noctis asked. Everyone jumped a little, not realizing he was awake.

“Why ask that?” Yuffie said, “Though, come to think of it, I don’t know. Leon?”

“We don’t actually know. Legends speak of “a Key” and Sora’s is the first keyblade I’ve ever seen,” Leon said, “Do you have experience with magical weapons?”

“Some but nothing like the keyblade,” Noctis said, “Deeply connected to my world. There were around a hundred thirteen of them, though we only know the locations of about thirteen surviving glaives.”

“Oh, were you collecting those on your adventure?” Sora asked. Noctis blinked at how fast Sora arrived at that conclusion.

“Yes.”

“We’ll keep that in mind, but not all magical weapons are the same,” Leon said, “There’s so much we don’t know.” A loud bang was heard next door as well as the sounds of fighting.

“We need to run, go!” Leon said picking up his gun blade from where it was propped up in the corner. Sora was already gone leaving Noctis to ran after him playing catch up.

“His accent reminded me a little of Old Cid’s only more polished,” Yuffie said.

“Really?” Leon said.

—————————————————————————————————

Noctis hadn’t tried summoning a Royal Arm because of how weak he still felt, but he had a feeling he was going to need the armiger soon.

“So, are your magic weapons tied to that warp-y thing you do?” Sora asked.

“Sort of,” Noctis said, “It’s a long story for when we’re not fighting for our lives.” The path back to the First District was blocked.

———————————————————————————————————————

“BAAHHHAAHAHA!” Donald and Goofy, thanks to a mistimed fumble with magic had landed on the roofs and were fighting/fleeing heartless that way.

“Look, Donald, a hatch.” Goofy said.

“What hat-aahahaahtch!” They tumbled through it.

———————————————————————————

Noctis warped ahead of Sora to take on more heartless, but the monsters were sort of drying up.

“Whoa-whoa!” Sora! Noctis looked back to see two strange beings had landed on top of Sora and they were nothing like he’d seen before.

“The key!” the pair said looking at the keyblade.

“Get off him!” Noctis yelled warping over and taking a swing making them back up.

“Wait just one minute here what do you think you’re doing!” the bird-humanoid said.

“Talking Daemons,” Noctis said flatly remembering the Naga from the Focciaugh Cavern.

“De-mons! Gwarsh, Donald, he thinks we’re monsters!” the dog one said.

“Stop that!” Donald said jumping back from another swipe, “We’re only here trying to find the person with the Key because our King needs us to!”

“Noctis, I’m ok!” Sora said once he stood up. Noctis stood down but kept his eyes on them, until a loud clang of metal made all of them turn to see a massive Heartless made of armor had appeared.

“I’ll trust you two for now,” Noctis said.

“And say you’re sorry!” Donald squawked.

“After the battle.” Goofy said.

“Alright, after the battle. Happy, Goofy?”

“Less talk and more action,” Noctis said before he warp attacked the main body. Sora gave a shrug and joined the fray leaving Donald and Goofy to also shrug and charge.

———————————————————————————————————————

Noctis had to admit he was impressed by the duck-mage because his magic only hurt his enemies unlike Lucian Elemancy which hurt everyone. It wasn’t as long as some of the battles he’d been in but it still took a while before the armor was defeated and a glowing crystalline heart floated away.

“We’re waiting,” Donald said.

“I’m sorry I thought two strangers who flattened Sora were monsters,” Noctis said after a few moments.

“Eh, Close enough.”

“They you all are, are you ok?” It was Leon withYuffie, and Aerith following him.

“Fine, after a few minor bumps,” Sora said.

“We need you to come with us,” Donald said.

“Yah see, our King told us to find someone with a Key, and it’s the key to finding him and saving the worlds,” Goofy said.

“But my friends…,” Sora said.

“You should go with them. Traveling around other worlds would give you a better chance of finding them,” Leon said.

“Sure!” Donald said.

“Really?” Goofy scratched his chin.

“Don’t know, but we need him to find the King,” Donald whispered to Goofy. Noctis was watching this with a bored look, but he still eyed Donald and Goofy warily.

“Can Noctis come too? He’s also looking for his friends and he’s been so helpful to me so far,” Sora asked.

“But he—.” Donald began.

“Sure!” Goofy said.

“He attacked us!” Donald squawked.

“He was only protecting his friend,” Goofy said.

“ _Fine._ Now our ship runs only on happy faces, no frowns allowed,” Donald said looking at the sort of apathetic, sort of overwhelmed Sora.

“How about this, uh “CHEESE”.” uh.” The grin was part goofy cheese part grimace and all around funny looking.

“That’s one funny face. What about you?” Goofy said after laughing. Noctis raised an eyebrow before shaking his head and just giving them a grin, it felt forced but the guys were why he was doing this. The guys, Luna, and Sora.

“That’s better! I’m Donald!”Donald said.

“and I’m Goofy.” Goofy gave a large grin.

“Sora.” This time Sora’s smile was more genuine Noctis nodded to them,

“Noctis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read somewhere that Noctis was sort of created as a dark parallel to Sora in many ways, so I just wanted to see them together in a fic. So, I decided to write this crossover.  
> Noctis, being a giant dork, would get along with the other giant dork that is Sora like a house on fire. Prompto and the KH dorks, even better, though Prompto won't show up for a while.
> 
> The title is in Latin because I wanted to be artsy.
> 
> I do have a majority of this fic pre-written, so it shouldn't cause any delays with any other fics I'm working on.  
> It's a fic I've been turning to whenever I get blocked on my other projects.
> 
>  **Note added later** : I went through and cleaned up chapter 1


	2. Leaving Traverse Town/We're All Mad Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis and Sora have agreed to travel with Donald and Goofy to find their friends and help the animal duo find their king. The adventure is not like anything either could have ever predicted.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Wait!” Before everyone could clear out of the Third District, an old man in a blue robe with a blue pointed hat and a very, very long, white beard appeared, literally, out of a puff of blue smoke.

“Hey there, Merlin,” Yuffie said.

“Hello there, my girl. Wait a moment there young man!” Merlin pointed a finger at Noctis.

“Yeah?”

“You have a powerful magic, raw and unrestrained,” Merlin said.

“Unrestrained?” Noctis said.

“Your spells even hurt yourself, I’ll bet,” Merlin said. Noctis just stared at him more. _How did this crazy old man know about how dangerous Elemancy could be_!

“And you can fix that?” Noctis said.

“Darn tootin’ I could. I could also train up the boy right there. He has powerful magic too,and his is untrained!” Merlin said pointing at Sora.

“Magic? Me?” Sora said.

“Yes, you!” Merlin said.“Come with me,” Merlin grabbed Sora’s wrist and dragged him along behind him. Donald, Goofy, and Noctis exchanged looks following after him.

“We really don’t have time for this!” Donald squawked.

“Tell that to the man with the beard,” Nocits said as he kept following Sora and Merlin. They arrived in his house and Merlin began muttering something as his bag unpacked itself.

“What are you all called?” Merlin ask as he searched through his book case that had just put itself to order.

“I’m Sora!”

“Donald Duck!”

“I’m Goofy!”

“Noctis.”

“Ah-ha! Here, catch!” He tossed a book at Noctis’s head, forcing him to duck. The book then solidly smacked Goofy in the face. Noctis winced and shrugged an apology, but Goofy didn't seem to care.

“Apologies, but that should help you get your magic under control,” Merlin said adjust his glasses. Noctis picked the book off the floor and it was written in a runic language he didn’t understand.

“As for you, young man, your magic should be new enough I can mould it in a manner more like mine or your feathered friend’s,” Merlin said poking at Sora with a wand, “I’ll start you off simple. You’re learning a fireball spell “Fire”.”

Noctis flipped through the book as Sora learned how to make a simple fireball but the runes still didn’t help.

“What language is this in?” Noctis asked.

“Oh. You don’t read Ancient Eosian? Odd, I could swear you were an Elemnacer.”

“I am an, what did you call it, “Elemancer” but I never used a book to learn,” Noctis said, “Where did you even  _get_  a book written in Ancient Eosian? We can barely find these _on_ Eos.”

“Are you self taught or has the formal school of training been lost to Eos?” Merlin said looking at Noctis.

“Both. Really only one family can use Elemancy on Eos,” Noctis said.

“The Lucii are down to one family only? Good heavens! Though, your magic seems so powerful, I wonder….” Merlin invaded Noctis’s personal space and “hmmed” before tapping the book making a copy appear and this time it was in a language Noctis knew.

“Try that. You’re so set in the ways you know, my teachings won’t go over well, but this should help you reign in the effects of your magic spells,” Merlin said. Noctis took the copy book and nodded his thanks. He’d never _seen_ a book on Elemancy before. His father had taken him to a deposit of magical energy and showed him how to draw it from the earth along with some basics on making spells afterwards but that was it. _His Father_ ….Noctis read over the first few pages.

“What’s this uh “elemancy” anyway?” Goofy asked.

“Beats me!” Donald said.

“I use my powers to gather lightning, fire, or ice energy from the world around me to cast spells based on those three elements,” Noctis said as he flipped through the book. He wished Gladio was there. He was a faster reader, but he also had never been given more magic training than how to use what powers he drew on the crystal through Noctis: mostly using subspace storage and a few attacks. This was making Noctis wish for a place to nap, but it also had information he knew but hadn’t known the _why_ behind it. For example, he could only handle so much flame, ice, or lightning essence before he stopped because anymore than that could injure him, make him ill, or kill him.

“Let’s go!” Donald said. Noctis looked up and banished the book to his own subspace storage and followed the others out.

“Ready to go?” Goofy asked.

“Did you buy potions before?

“Sorry Donald, I forgot!”

“I hope we have enough munny,” Donald grumbled.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Hiya Unca Donald!” Three little ducks said.

“Huey, Louie, Dewie! What’re you doing here! Aren’t you supposed to be with Uncle Scrooge!” Donald yelled.

“But he told us to go make our mark on the world!” Huey said.

“We’ve got some really good items here but don’t expect a discount ‘cause you’re our uncle!” Louie said.

“Take a look at what we got!” Dewie said. Donald just stared at his nephews and Goofy let out a laugh before buying some potions from them.

“Thanks Mr. Goofy! What about you?” Huey was looking right at Noctis.

“Sure, what’ve you got?” Noctis said. The selection wasn’t bad for a little start up, but potions wouldn’t cut it for him. Though, Sora would need healing, so he bought some potions after selling some of of the items he’d harvested from daemons for currency.

“We can sell these to old Cid for a pretty penny, Mister!” Louie said.

“He’ll be happy to see these!” Huey said.

“Where’d you get this stuff, Mister?” Dewie said.

“My home,” Noctis said.

“Oh. Sorry,” Huey said. Noctis waved it off.

“Good luck, Unca Donald!” Louie said.

“Good luck!” Dewie said.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Our ship’s this way!” Goofy said leading them to a set of doors. They opened them just in time to see,

“Cindy?” Noctis said.

“You’re ok too!” Cindy said.

“Have you seen anyone else?” Noctis asked.

“Afraid not. Not even Paw Paw,” Cindy said.

“Cindy?” Cid had exited the Accessory shop. Cindy's face split into a large smile.

“Uncle Cid!” Cindy said.

“Uncle!” Yuffie, Aerith, and Leon were there to see them off and were surprised by Cindy hugging Cid. It had been Yuffie who'd spoken.

“My Sister’s girl, Cindy. Chip off the old block!” Cid said letting go and smiling proudly.

“You’re too kind, Uncle Cid. Paw Paw still thinks you’re alive, but I’m afraid Ma, Momma, and my Pa aren’t around no more,” Cindy said.

“I’m sorry sugar-pea,” Cid said somberly, “Bring any Insomnian tech with you?”

“Well, the Old Girl made it with me,” Cindy said.

“The Regalia?!” Noctis was torn between running out to look at it and staying with the others.

“What’s the Regalia?” Sora asked.

“My father’s car,” Noctis said.

“She’s a little beat up, but I can fix her up nice,” Cindy said.

“If you’ll let me help, I can upgrade it should you bring me some things while you’re out and about,” Cid said pulling out a notepad and scribbling a few items in a list and ripped off the page handing it to Noctis.

“I’ll keep an eye out for these,” Noctis said after looking at it and slipping a pocketand pausing. There was something else there. A half-remembered dream of Luna in the sky with him. He pulled out the note and the Ring of the Lucii. _Luna_.

“What’s that there, uh, Noctis?” Goofy asked. Noctis flinched and closed his fingers over the ring and tucked it back into his pocket.

“We should probably be going,” Noctis said.

“Good luck! I hope you find your friends!”

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“This is our gummi ship!” Donald said proudly. The space-ship looking thing looked more like a toy than something that could actually fly, but who was Noctis to judge a book by its cover. He followed them in and found there were four seats, which meant if they found anyone else, there wouldn’t be room.

“Strap in,” Donald said as Goofy climbed into the pilot’s seat. Noctis figured it’d be a good idea to catch up on his sleep, so he buckled up and leaned back. It wasn’t long before he was out like a light.

_“Noctis.” He was a child again in a field of flowers with Luna._

_“Luna!”_

_“I wish there was more I could do for you, but this is what is left for me.”_

_“What?” Luna became her older self._

_“You need to finish your quest and everything else will fall into place,” Luna said._

_“Wait, Luna, don’t go!” he was his adult self reaching for her as she was ripped away. “Luna!”_

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“We’ve arrived!” Noctis woke up with a start nearly summoning a weapon.

“Thank you,” Noctis said shaking his head to clear the sleepiness.

“Watch the step!” Donald said before leaping out the hatch. What? Noctis took a step and was falling through the air, but it was slow? Yeah. The others were falling with him. Sora landed on his feet, as did Noctis, but the other two fell on their butts.

“This is stranger than that nightmare I had as a child,” Noctis said, his thoughts flashing back to the dream he had where he was tiny inside his father’s study.

“This way!” Sora said. There was a flash of a cottontail and Noctis was sure he’d just missed something. The next room had a door too small for them to fit through, even Donald who was the smallest member of their party.

“Now what? That door’s too small,” Sora said.

“No, you’re simply too big!” The voice had come from the doorknob, which was trying to sleep.

“The door talks.” Noctis said. _How was this his life_.

“So?” Donald said, “Hey, how do we get smaller!”

“You might want to try the potion on the table,” the doorknob said before it went back to sleep. Noctis sat on the bed against the wall only for it to flatten as a table popped up out of the floor. There was also a passage way, too small for any of them, again, but an alternative to messing with that other door. He stood up dusting himself off. The table contained two bottles, both labeled “Drink Me.” That didn’t seem like a good plan, drinking something strange in a world where logic took one look at it and screamed running into the sunset. Yet, they didn’t seem to have a choice.

“I warn you first, the monsters are small too, when you’re their size they’ll come after you.” A talking, floating, purple and pink striped cat. What had Noctis and the others gotten into.

“Who are you?” Sora asked. The cat snickered and faded out of sight leaving the grin behind.

“Let’s do this!” Donald said. They took turns drinking it and the room started to get bigger until it really felt like a deja vu moment for Noctis.

“I had a dream like this once,” he said.

“How’d it end?”

“I found a way out to an area where I was my proper size,” Noctis said.

“Well we can go through that hole you accidentally found,” Goofy said, “Since we’re now small enough to fit.” The moment they leapt off the table they were attacked by the heartless.

“So that’s what he meant,” Sora said. Noctis slashed at one of the floating ones turning it into bubbles. Sora shot off magic at a red one and it actually looked better.

“Elemental Heartless,” Noctis said, “Everyone get back.” He had a blizzard spell on reserve. He threw it and focused on the heartless hoping to reign in his power even a little. It was still a huge explosion but the heartless were all blasted away and frozen, except the blue ones.

“Use fire on those!” Noctis turned to see the others staring at him. “What?” This snapped them out of it, so Sora and Donald used fire spells to get ride of the rest.

“That’s elemancy? That’s so cool!” Sora said.

“You should probably stick to what old man Merlin is teaching you, I have trouble keeping my magic from hitting me and my allies,” Noctis said.

“Oh,” Sora said.

“They’re gone, let’s move!” Donald said.

“Oh and we need to be careful moving forward, isn’t that right, Donald?”

“We need to keep it a secret that there are other worlds and maintain the world order. Places like Traverse Town don’t count.”

“We also need to avoid muddling.”

“ _Meddling_.”

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Just because you’re the Queen doesn’t give you the right to-to be so mean!”

“For the crime of trying to steal my heart.” _What heart_.

“Wait a second. That sounds like,” Donald said.

“The Heartless,” Goofy said. Noctis nodded and turned to look at Sora but the teenager was gone and he saw Sora marching towards the Queen of Hearts.

“Looks like he’s decided to meddle,” Noctis said running after him.

“Alice didn’t do it!”

“Do you have any proof?”

“No, but I know she didn’t do it.”

“Do **_you_ ** have any proof?” Noctis asked.

“No, but I’m the Queen and I say you’re the ones who have to prove her innocence,” the Queen of Hearts said.

Noctis had to bit back a scathing remark. This was possibly the _worst_ monarch he’d ever met and, as one monarch to another, he was disgusted by her wonton abuse of power.

“We’ll get it,” Sora said.

“In the meantime, she’ll remain in custody!” Alice was shoved into a cage.

“Thank you for standing up to her,” Alice said.

“No problem,” Sora said, “Have you seen any other strangers here?”

“No, but this whole world is strange to me,” Alice said.

“Thanks anyway,” Sora said.

“What was that! We told you not to meddle!” Donald said.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t just let them punish her for something the heartless did,” Sora said.

“Fine, but don’t make a habit of this,” Donald said. He moved off to the side with Goofy.

“Are you mad too?” Sora said looking up at Noctis.

“Not at you. I can’t stand people who think like that _Queen_ , that power makes you right,” Noctis said.

“Oh. Oh! Right because you’re a K-.”

“I’d rather not be broadcasting that,” Noctis said.

“Why?”

“It doesn’t mean anything outside Eos and I don’t feel like I’ve earned it,” Noctis admitted, “My father….only recently passed and we lost our kingdom to an enemy force.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. What’s the plan?”

“Well, I have this one idea,” Sora said.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Ready?” Noctis asked Sora and the others.

“Ready!” The heartless wandered into view and Noctis attacked deliberately missing it herding the heartless towards Donald and Goofy who attack and sent it towards Sora who attacked it sending it out into the courtroom/garden.

“Here’s your culprit!” Sora said gesturing to the heartless.

“I don’t care. Cards! Seize them!” the Queen of Hearts said. Alice’s cage rose into the air as the Card guards attacked. Compared to the heartless, the Cards were easily defeated and the controls to Alice’s cage were easily overridden.

“Get to safety,” Sora said.

“I will, thank you!” Alice said as she ran away.

“We should go,” Noctis said.

“Agreed" the others said. They arrived in the first room.

The Cheshire Cat appeared.

“All the lights are on. You’ll see the shadows soon.The shadows might go after that doorknob, too. Oh and here’s something you’re missing you’ll need,” A snowflake appeared above Sora’s keyblade before a large monster appeared. It was another heartless, that much was clear, but it looked like it was made out of paper and it was juggling pins. Trickster was name that came to mind, for some reason. Noctis narrowed his eyes at it. Sora charged and yelled,

“ **Freeze**!” the monster iced over becoming immobile. Noctis and Goofy tag teamed and slashed it with Sora turning it into pieces that flew back together and now the pins were on fire.

“Can you repeat that?” Noctis asked Sora as he dodged a fiery attack.

“I can try.”

“Donald, maybe you could join him too and Noctis could use one of his ice spells,” Goofy said.

“That could work,” Donald said. Noctis nodded pulling out his last blizara sphere.

“Everyone clear?” Noctis asked.

“ **Deep freeze**!”

“ **Freeze**!” and Noctis’s silent sphere hit the Trickster at the same time turning it into an icicle which Noctis, Sora, and Goofy turned into pieces that exploded into dark smoke and shadows releasing a heart.

“What was all that noise?” The doorknob let out a huge yawn, revealing a keyhole. The keyblade jerked Sora’s arm forward of its own accord; a beam of light shot out and into the keyhole locking it. Some things then fell out. A piece of a gadget. Noctis looked at the list and nodded. This was one of the things Cindy needed.

“What was that?” Goofy said.

“I don’t know but I think it was a good thing,” Sora said.

“Well, the King’s not here,” Donald said.

“Let’s check another world,” Goofy said.

“We’ll find them,” Noctis said placing a hand on Sora’s shoulder.

“I know we will.” Sora said

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I decided I would change the update schedule to every other week :D  
> Also, yeah Wonderland was a very...truncated world but that's because of all the pain it caused me when I played it in KH.


	3. Going Ape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis, Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave Wonderland without finding hide nor hair of their missing friends. The journey continues but arguments put the fledgling friendships and alliance to the test whenever they crash land on a world.

Noctis had tried reading more of that elemancy book but it was better than well, most anything at knocking the uncrowned King of Lucis out. He was jerked awake by a lurch of the gummi ship, which was strange since a near car wreck on the part of Prompto failed to wake him once.

“I say we check it out!”

“No! We’re on an important mission!” Noctis banished the book to subspace.

“What’s happening?

“Sora and Donald are fighting over whether we land on this here world. Donald doesn’t think King Mickey would be here but Sora wants to look for his friends,” Goofy said.

“What could it hurt to check for his friends?” Noctis asked.

“I dunno but Donald’s pretty sure and I’m not going to get in this,” Goofy said. Noctis rolled his eyes. Before he could break up the fight the whole vehicle gave a shudder that he didn’t like before it crashed throwing everyone from the ship. He grabbed Sora’s arm as they fell onto the world and he hit his head dazing himself. He lost his grip on Sora and landed hard in a tree. He sat up and saw he was surrounded by vines. It was something out of a children’s show he watched a long time ago. He should get down. Noctis shook his head and threw his sword at a lower point on the trunk and found himself above a clearing of tents. He warped to the ground just as a man carrying a very old looking gun escorted Donald and Goofy into the clearing.

“Noctis! You’re ok!” Goofy said, “Have you seen Sora?”

“Afraid not,” Noctis said.

“Perhaps we can see if my associates have seen this boy,” the man said.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“…..to study the gorillas?”

“Highly doubtful,” the man said as everyone else entered the tent. There was a young woman, an old man, a man in a loin cloth and—

“Sora!”

“Goofy! Donald! Noctis!” Sora and Donald were happy to see each other for only a second before they dropped their hands and turned their backs in an exaggerated huff. Noctis rolled his eyes.

“A circus of clowns, not good for hunting gorillas,” the man said. Noctis’s eye twitched at the words “circus of clowns.”

“We’re here to study them not hunt them, Mr. Clayton.” the woman said, “This is research.” she sighed. “The more the merrier.”

“Well anyway,” Sora said,

“I’m staying!” both he and Donald said.

“Huh?” Sora siad.

“Look what we found,” Goofy said showing Sora and Noctis a block.

“It’s the same stuff we make our ships from,” Goofy said.

“Meaning…”

“The King might be here!” Donald said, “So, we gotta work together to find him, for now.”

“Fine, for now,” Sora said.

“Everyone done fighting?” Noctis asked rubbing his temples trying to get rid of his headache. It wasn’t as bad as the ones Titan had caused but the fighting was getting on his nerves.

“I guess,” Sora said.

“Sure,” Donald groused.

“Next time someone has a suggestion, and the others don’t like it, maybe we can _not_ crash the ship,” Noctis said, “Sora only agreed to help you because he was told he could find his friends along the way. If you’re not going to help on that, be honest about it.”

“Fine,” the others said.

 

“You seem pretty well versed in mediation. I’m Jane by the way.”

“I’m her father! Professor Archimedes Q. Porter!”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Noctis said before he looked over at the corner of the tent and froze. _That sword!_

“Where did you find this?” Noctis asked walking over to it.

“Well it just appeared suddenly one day. I was going to send a wire to my old friend Thaddeus Thatch to see if he could make sense of it,” Professor Porter said.

“Is that one of those magic weapons from your home?” Sora asked.

“Magic weapons?” Donald said.

“It’s the Sword of the Tall,” Noctis said somehow knowing its name, “It was stolen from its resting place.” He held a hand out in front of himself and the great sword glowed and floated before turning into crystalline light and slamming into his chest making the others gasp as other crystalline weapons appeared around Noctis before vanishing.

“Wow! What was that?” Jane said.

“Those were what currently makes up my armiger,” Noctis said, “My father only ever had seven.”

“How many do you have?” Donald asked

“Ten.”

“How many are there?” Goofy looked puzzled but was trying.

“Once there were over a hundred but now we only really know where around thirteen are.”

“Does this have to do with you being one of them Lucii?” Goofy asked.

“Something like that,” Nocits said.

“That looked like a sword fit for a King,” Mr. Clayton said.

“I suppose it was, a long time ago,” Noctis said.

“Why did you make the comment that I couldn’t be related to Tarzan because I spoke English?” Sora said.

“Well Tarzan was raised by gorillas. He has trouble communicating sometimes, but it’s getting better,” Jane said.

“So it was _gorilla_ he was speaking. He said something about finding my friends: Riku and Kairi.”

“Well, if we showed him some slides, maybe he can show us what word he’s saying,” Jane said, “They’re outside on a table next to the phonograph.”

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

“If you’re not here to study Gorillas, why are you here?” Sora asked Mr. Clayton as they exited the tent.

“Well, they’re just so rare, I want to see them with my own eyes,” Mr. Clayton said. Sabor reappeared and while the others panicked, Sora, Noctis, Goofy, Donald, and Sora’s new friend Tarzan joined the fray.

“Nice moves there,” Noctis said to Tarzan.

“Nice. Moves,” Tarzan echoed. Noctis warped over and helped Sora using his sword they repelled Sabor away from the camp.

“So uncivilized,” Mr. Clayton said. He was cleaning his gun at one of the tables.

“What’s uncivilized?” Noctis asked.

“Fighting with barbaric weapons,” he said. Noctis narrowed his eyes before he summoned a pistol to his hand.

“What, you’d rather I fight using this?” Noctis said.

“If you have a weapon of a civilized man, why don’t you use it instead,” Mr. Clayton said.

“Because, sometimes shooting things only makes them mad,” Noctis said dismissing the gun.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Found all the slides!” Sora said whenever they reentered the tent.

“Very good!” Jane said. She slid them into place and nothing made Tarzan respond, but Sora did to a picture of a castle. He shook his head. He’d never even been off the islands.

“Nothing,” Jane said.

“Oh,” Sora looked said.

“There is one other place. We’ve been here for weeks and haven’t seen your friends but there’s a place we haven’t been and that’s where the gorilla’s live but Tarzan refuses to take us there,” Mr. Clayton said.

“Really, Mr. Clayton, Tarzan wouldn’t hide—.” Jane began but she was cut off.

“Take us to the gorillas! Gor-ril-las!” Tarzan looked at Sora for a few moments and nodded.

“Tarzan…are you sure?” Jane said.

“Tarzan go see Kerchak,” Tarzan said.

“Kerchak?”

“He must be the leader. I’ll go along with you, after all the jungle is a dangerous place,” Mr. Clayton said.

“I don’t think we’ll be needing you,” Noctis said.

“You can’t think your primitive weapons will keep everyone safe, can you?” Mr. Clayton said.

“Probably better than you can with that primitive gun,” Noctis said.

“Gentlemen, calm down. The more eyes we have the better,” Jane said. Noctis nodded but something about Clayton reminded him far too much of Ardyn.

————————————————————————————————————-----—

Tarzan genuinely spoke Gorilla. Noctis watched the wild man speaking to a pair of gorillas and it seemed like an actual conversation. The male, Kerchak probably, looked angry.

“Kerchak….” Tarzan said defeatedly as Kerchak left.

“He seemed sort of distracted,” Goofy said tapping his chin. Donald nodded,

“Was he looking towards that treehouse?” the duck mused. Noctis follows Donald’s line of sight and sees the treehouse. Tarzan took off for it leaving the others to follow him. They arrived in time to see Clayton aiming a gun at a gorilla playing with a globe. Donald shouted,

“ **Bahaahahah!** ”Clayton missed the shot. The gorilla yelped and darted behind Kerchak who also appeared.

“What’s the big idea!” Donald squawked. Kerchak glared at them again.

“Wait, Kerchak. Please!” Tarzan said but it was no use, so the humans, duck, and dog turned to look at Mr. Clayton who nervously defended himself,

“You don’t understand. I was only trying to…A snake slithered by, you see. I saved that poor gorilla’s life!”

———————————————————————————————————————————--

“How could you do such a thing!”

“Now, Miss Porter, as I told you, I was not aiming at the gorilla!”

“You are not to go near the gorillas again!”

“All because of one mishap, come now….” Mr. Clayton looked at Professor Porter who looked stern. Noctis stared at him with a flat look on his face while the others were outright glaring. He laughed nervously before he left.

“You were right about not needing him,” Donald said.

“Pretty good catch there, Noctis.”

“I’ve met someone like him before,” Noctis said thinking of Ardyn, “They always have something else they want to gain from helping you.”

There was a commotion outside and a gorilla was surrounded by monkey monsters.

“Heartless!” Sora said. Noctis nodded and the fight was on. These heartless were a bit more savage than the ones from Wonderland.He almost summoned his sword whenever he realized distance would be better, so he summoned his lance instead. They destroyed the heartless and there were more screams.

“Jane!” Tarzan yelled. They followed him and her screams all the way back to the treehouse. She and the gorilla were tied up in vines.

“Behind you!” it was more of those monkey heartless. There was something like a dark fruit on a tree nearby.

“Attack that thing!” Donald said. Noctis warp struck it a few times as Sora leapt up and slashed at it with the keyblade while Goofy worked on freeing Jane and the other gorilla. The dark fruit burst and the heartless seemed to finally stop coming.

“Clayton came and….That’s the last thing I remember,” she said.

“Clayton?” Sora said.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Noctis said.

“Gorillas trapped. Terk ran.”

“We must help the gorillas!” Jane said.

“Where are they?” Sora asked.

“Terk say by cliffs,” Tarzan said after he asked Terk who nodded.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Noctis was surprised. Heartless were following Clayton and speaking of which he was aiming his gun at the one gorilla.

“No!” Sora distracted Clayton long enough for the gorillas to flee. He had a cruel grin on his face.

“Clayton?” Sora said confused. There was a larger shadow. Noctis took a step back.

“Not Clayton!” Tarzan said. Clayton began firing at them forcing Noctis to dodge, but something else was there. Sora landed a hit on it revealing a giant green chameleon monster. Noctis and Tarzan charged it and stabbed it at the same time, causing it to buck Clayton off its back. Sora attacks it with Goofy and Donald and in tandem, Noctis joined with The Greatsword of the Tall to finish it off. Clayton screamed as the fading heartless crushed him as it released a glowing heart. Both its body and Clayton vanished. That was weird.

Kerchak reappeared and tossed Sora up a cliff. Donald and Goofy follow, with Tarzan climbing. Noctis point warped up and everyone stared at him.

“It’s still strange seeing you do that,” Goofy said.

“Home,” Tarzan said. There were waterfalls all around. They followed him into a cavern behind it and he spoke that word.

“Friends there. See friends.” Tarzan said.

“Oh. It means heart. Friends in our hearts….”

“Heart…” Tarzan echoed.

“Oh. So that’s what it meant,” Sora said.

“Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends. No heart, no friends.” Tarzan said.

“I don’t really think he had any to lose,” Noctis said. He looked at Sora and Donald who were still awkward.

“Sorry about everything,” Sora said.

“I’m sorry too,” Donald said.

“Yeah. All for one, huh?” Goofy said. He looked at Noctis who nodded and placed a hand next to Goofy’s. The butterflies revealed another keyhole shape and this time Sora pointed the keyblade himself. There was a click and another gummi fell out.

“A gummi!”

“But it’s sure not the king’s,” Goofy said inspecting it.

“Maybe Cid will know what this is,” Noctis said.


	4. Many Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After clearing the Deep Jungle, the quartet must take another way back past the Coliseum where a familiar face waits.

 

* * *

“Oh-no! too many heartless to go back that way!” Donald said pointing at the route that took them back past Wonderland.

“Is there another path?” Noctis said.

“Yeah, this one looks safer!” Goofy said pointing to a different direction.

“And we could check to see if the King’s there,” Sora said.

“Alright, but if he’s not, we’re heading right back to Traverse Town!” Donald said.

“We were doing that anyway, weren’t we?” Noctis asked. Goofy and Sora laughed while Donald grumbled.

“Looks like a Coliseum,” Noctis said whenever they arrived next to the new world.

“Are there any of those on your world?” Sora asked.

“Just the one in Altissia. I didn’t get a chance to see it before my world fell,” Noctis said.

“Sorry,” Goofy said, “Which world are you from?”

“Eos, but I’m from the Kingdom of Lucis,” Noctis said.

“Is your King one of the folks you’re looking for too?” Goofy said. Noctis shook his head.

“No. I’m trying to find my three friends. Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto,” Noctis said.

“Three friends? Gwarsh, I hope they made it off your world ok,” Goofy said.

“There’s also someone else I’m hoping to find,” Noctis said absently touching his shirt pocket. _Luna_. They landed on this new world and walked through the front gates into the front courtyard. There were two large impressive statues by the doors to the Coliseum.

The architecture was old but felt new. Though, that was a trend Noctis was noticing: the worlds he was visiting with Sora, Donald, and Goofy were years behind even the Outlands of Lucis. They entered the vestibule and there was this strange little creature. Having learned his lesson with Donald and Goody, Noctis held off on attacking. For now.

“Make yourself useful and move that pedestal will you?” he said as he dusted something. Noctis looked at it and shook his head.

“I don’t think you can move that.”

“I’m gonna try!” Sora said. He tried to shove it and it didn’t budge.

“It’s too heavy.”

“What do you mean—oh. You’re not the guy I thought you were. What’re ya doing here? This here’s a world famous coliseum—heroes only! I’ve got my hands full. Move along, pipsqueaks!” he said. Sora and the other three pout while Noctis struggled not to laugh at the looks on their faces.

“It’s like this. Heroes from all over are coming to fight ferocious monsters.”

“But we’re heroes!” Sora said.

“Yeah! Sora here’s chosen by the keyblade!”

“And we’re heroes’ too!” Donald said. The goat man looked at them and burst out laughing,

“The dark broody one, I might buy as a hero or something but you three!”

“I’ve beaten lots of monsters!” Sora said.

“How can you call, yourself, a hero, if, you can’t, even, move this,” the goat man failed in moving the block.

“Ok, takes more than brawn. I’ll see what you can do, but the trial is tough. Also, I don’t want your tall dark friend in this one. Like I said, him I’ll buy as hero. He has the right attitude for it. You three ready?”

“We’ll take anything you throw at us,” Sora said crossing his arms.

“Darn tootin’ we will!” Goofy said.

“Yeah!”

“I like your spirit. Name’s Philoctetes. Friends call me Phil.”

“I’m Sora.”

“Donald.”

“I’m Goofy!”

“Noctis.” Phil’s eyebrow twitched up at Noctis’s name but he continued.

“Let me set up the trial in the courtyard,” Phil said as he exited.

“Why do ya think he pegged Noctis as a hero and not us?” Goofy said.

“Who knows! We’ve just gotta beat his test and prove we’re heroes too!” Donald said.

“Maybe it’s because Noct didn’t try to call himself a hero,” Sora said thoughtfully.

“You three ready?” Phil said sticking his head back in.

“You bet!” Sora said. Noctis moved to follow them, but Phil held a hand forwards.

 

“I can’t have you interfering. Besides, you look like one of the guys my newest champ is looking for. Why don’t ya go into the arena and see if he’s someone you know,” Phil said stopping Noctis from exiting the vestibule.

“Go ahead. We’ll be fine!” Sora said waving at Noctis. He nodded before he entered the arena through the tunnel and there were a few people training, one with blond hair and strange clothes, but the other—,

“Gladio!”

“Noct? Noct!” He ran over to his large friend and they clasped each other’s armstightly.

“I’m so relieved to see you’re ok,” Noctis said.

“Me too. Find Prompto or Iggy yet?” Gladio said. Noctis shook his head,

“I was ripped apart from Luna during that weird storm.”

“Luna’s alive?”

“I hope so,” Noctis said, “She also gave me something before we were ripped apart.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Ring of the Lucii.

“Your Father’s Ring! Why aren’t you using it?”

“I don’t think I’m ready for it,” Noctis said slipping it back into his pocket, “I also need to find the crystal. One of the royal arms was in another world, so I think the remaining royal arms were scattered too along with the crystal.”

“If I could get off here, I’d help you search. How did you get here anyway?”

“I had help. I made a few new friends while looking for you and the guys,” Noctis said, “But Phil doesn’t believe that they’re heroes.”

“He thought you were one? Must be losing his touch,” Gladio said slapping Noctis on the shoulder, “Or I kept talking about you and the others in hopes someone’s seen you three.”

“I see. So I only looked like a hero to him because you wouldn’t shut up,” Noctis said.

“This one of them guys you’ve been looking for?” Phil asked as he walked up to them.

“It is. Phil meet his Majesty King Noctis Lucis Caelum of Lucis,” Gladio said slapping Noctis on the back again, making him wince at the pain.

“ _This_ is really your **king**?” Phil said.

“Set him up against a mid-rank monster, and he can prove it, right Noct?” Gladio said.

“Of course,” Noctis said.

“I’ve got something. Everyone, clear the area!” He looked over at Sora, Donald, and Goofy entering.

“Who let you three in?”

“We have passes, see?” Sora said.

“Fine. Get to the stands, we have a special exhibition at the champ’s request. King of Lucis versus the Large Squad,” Phil said.

“A King?” Donald said.

“But he’s not our King or he’d have said King of Disney Castle,” Goofy said.

“Oh, right.”

“It’s ok. We know him!” Sora said as he sat down next to Gladio.

“So, you’re the friends Noct made,” he said.

“We sure are. Are you one of his friends?” Sora said.

“I’m Gladiolus Amicitia. Call me Gladio,” he said.

“I’m Sora.”

“Donald Duck.”

“And I’m Goofy.”

“Noct’s always had a soft spot for kids and animals,” Gladio said.

“Hey!” the trio said which made Gladio laugh.

“The match is starting. I hope he hasn’t been slacking,” Gladio said.

 

The monsters were four large body heartless:The Large Squad. Noctis walked out and Sora could have sworn Donald and Goofy’s jaws hit their feet whenever they saw it was Noctis on the stage. At the signal Noctis warped forwards and began his assault on the backs of the big bodies and continued to warp to keep the hits up. It wasn’t long before the heartless were little more than wisps of shadowy smoke on the arena floor.

“I thought this was supposed to be hard?” Noctis said looking at Phil, whose jaw was also dropped.

“Just you wait until the undefeated champ gets back. Now that’s a match I’d love to see,” Phil said after shaking his head, “So, without further ado, let the games begin!” Noctis joined Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Gladio in the stands.

“You’re a King!” Donald said.

“You sure don’t act like one,” Goofy said.

“Never been much on Royal Protocol. Drives our friend Iggy up the wall,” Gladio said, “Officially speaking, I’m the Shield of the King like my father was for his father. Our friend Ignis is trained to be his advisor. Prompto is just along for the ride.”

“So when that guy said that sword was fit for a king…?” Goofy said.

“It was once. One of my ancestors used it,” Noctis said, “I think I’ll find the others scattered among the worlds too.”

“Aren’t you afraid someone might take them?” Donald said.

“That’s the beauty of these. Only Noctis can use them because he’s the only one of the royal line left,” Gladio said.

“That sounds kind of sad,” Sora said.

“Even if I had other family, only the heir and the King can command these,” Noctis said.

“That blond guy gives me the creeps,” Gladio said pointing to the blond with a cape.

“Listen up! The King and his friend are a team while your three rookies are a team,” Phil said.

“What!”

“I can’t give you three an advantage like **that**. You want get far? You gotta do that on your own,” Phil said, “For fairness you’re in different divisions and won’t meet up until the final match, if at all.”

“Good luck,” Noctis said to Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

 

The matches were normal, except for all the heartless teams, and Noctis and Gladio had little trouble with the lesser heartless that were sent their way.

“Where’s this undefeated Champ?” Noctis asked.

“Hercules is away visiting his dad, or so Phil said. I’ve seen the guy in action, he’s amazing. We’d have trouble against the guy,” Gladio said.

“Think we could win?”

“With the daemons we’ve taken on? I think we could. It’d be hard, but we could,” Gladio said. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were now facing that blond soldier, Cloud, and there was something off about the match. Sora was in danger. Just before Noctis could interfere, the stadium shook and a three headed monstrous dog appeared.

“Everyone, get out!” A redhead in ancient armor had appeared.

“Is that Hercules?” Noctis asked.

“That’s the guy. Let’s lend him a hand and give the others a chance to escape,” Gladio said. Noctis warped down to Hercules and Cloud’s side.

“Get clear—what, how did you even get here so fast?” Hercules said catching a paw swipe with his hands.

“When we win, I’ll tell you,” Noctis said blocking an attack and parrying sending the three headed dog back a few steps.

“I don’t know how Cerberus even got out of the Underworld,” Hercules said.

“Hades did this. Hiring me to kill you wasn’t good enough,” Cloud said. They glanced at Cloud as Gladio landed a blow to Cerberus’s side. “He promised me a favor.”

“Hades has a habit of twisting deals to suit himself,” Hercules said.

“Sounds like a nice guy,” Noctis said leaping up and using a warp to get higher to land an attack on Cerberus’s back. A pain filled yell had Noctis see Cloud was down.

“Gladio, get him out!”

“What about you?”

“We’ve got this, get him out,” Noctis said before calming himself and calling the armiger. Playtime was over.

 

Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrived as reinforcements.

“I’ve got two words for you: ATTACK!” Phil said. Sora, Donald, and Goofy joined with Hercules who was holding the dog in place as Noctis attacked it rapidly summoning different weapons to his aid for attacks. Sora got an idea.

“Noctis!” He tossed him the keyblade and Noctis caught it and drove it down into Cerberus’s side. Hercules reared back and punched the dog sending him back a few feet as Sora, Donald and Goofy coordinated a strike before he could recover. Sora felt something different awaken and aimed his keyblade at Cerberus.

“Thunder!” a weak lightning bolt slammed into the three headed dog stunning it.

“Everyone clear!” Noctis yelled pulling out a glowing purple sphere. Hercules complied and he tossed it before warping away and massive bolts of electricity slammed down finishing off Cerberus. Everyone left in the arena was staring at Noctis in shock.

“What?”

“You could have done that the whole time?” Phil said.

“I’d have hurt Hercules,” Noctis said.

“I appreciate your consideration,” Hercules said, “How can you do all that?”

“I’m one of the Lucii, and those are two of the magical abilities we’re known for,” Noctis said.

“Thanks for helping,” Hercules said offering a hand.

“Thanks for letting me help,” Noctis said taking the hand, “You’re pretty handy to have in a fight.”

“Have you been holding back while traveling with us?” Sora asked.

“A little,” Noctis admitted, “But you only just started with that keyblade and you’re doing pretty well with it.”

“What do you mean just started?” Gladio was back and Cloud was ok.

“I’ve been sword training most of my life, it’s just magical stuff I’m new at,” Sora said, “Speaking of magic, how did I do that?”

“You must have developed the ability to use Thunder from being around me and Noctis,” Donald said.

“Merlin might know,” Noctis said.

—————————————————————————————————————

“I hereby dub you three “Junior heroes”—.”

“What do you mean “junior heroes?” Donald protested.

“You rookies still don’t understand what it takes to be “true heroes.”” Phil said.

“It’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own, like I did,” Hercules said.

“Why aren’t you giving him a title or something?” Goofy said pointing to Noctis, “He’s a hero too.”

“I asked him not to bother,” Noctis said.

“Though, now that you’re junior heroes, why don’t you try moving that pedestal again,” Hercules said. Sora shrugged before trying and it didn’t move, but this time Donald and Goofy joined, moving it a little. Noctis and Gladio exchanged looks.

“He never said anything about not getting help,” Noctis said joining them and Gladio’s final strength helped budge it the rest of the way revealing a keyhole. Sora nodded before he aimed the keyblade there and the light shot out making a clicking sound.

“What was that?” Gladio said.

“Not sure, but its usually a good thing,” Sora said with a shrug.

On the way out Sora nearly kicked a shiny stone away. So he picked it up and pocketed it.

“This is going to be too tight,” Donald grumbled.

“It’s only for one trip to Traverse Town,” Noctis said, “Besides, I found the rest of the items on the list.”

“What do you think they’re doing to your car?” Sora asked.

“I’m not sure, but Cindy’s an amazing mechanic. If her Uncle is half as good as her, they’ll be able to do something awesome,” Noctis said.

“Uncle?” Gladio raised an eyebrow.

“Uncle,” Noctis said.

“This I’ve gotta see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Back again, as promised.  
> Gladio has joined the team!


	5. Return to Traverse Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gladio has joined Noctis, Sora, Donald and Goofy on their journeys around the worlds. In Traverse Town, they uncover new mysteries about the town and an old friend makes a reappearance.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Let’s get this stuff to Cid and Cindy,” Gladio said as he stretched himself out after cramming into the gummi ship. It wasn’t too tight a fit, but he had to wedge himself between Noctis’s seat and a console to keep from being flung about the cockpit.

They entered the shop and Cid was idly wiping down the counter.

“Hey, Gramps!”

“Hey, Brat!” Cid saluted them and he noticed their group had one more member.

“So, who’s the big guy?” Cid asked.

“Gladiolus Amicitia,” Gladio said.

“No relation to Clarus Amicita are ya?”

“His son.”

“Ah. Makes sense,” Cid said.

“So, you knew about Noctis being a King and all?” Goofy said.

“He looks a lot like his Old Man did at his age. My Pa knew him back then and has a photo of himself, King Regis, and the others he ran with at the time,” Cid said.

“And you didn’t think to tell us!” Donald said.

“It didn’t seem important and I’d have thought he’d have told you himself if he wanted you to know,” Cid said with a shrug.

Cindy entered the shop with a wave to the others.

 

That’s when Sora remembered the strange gummi and showed it to Cid.

“Ah, this here’s a navigation gummi, I’ll just install it in your ship and you’ll have new routes to explore,” Cid said looking at Sora, Donald, and Goofy, “You bring those items I asked for?”

“Sure did. What will these do?” Noctis asked, handing everything over.

“This will make your Regalia function as a gummy-ship. The old girl already has the capabilities of a flying conversion in her, but these extra bits will make her safe to go between worlds,” Cindy said with a smile.

“We’ll get these done for you but it might take a while. So while you wait, why don’t you check out Traverse Town more,” Cid said, “Now that I think about it, there is something Aerith and the others wanted to talk to you about.”

“We’ll go check it out!” Sora said. He went to rush off, but Noctis grabbed Sora’s shirt,

“Where are they currently?” Noctis asked.

“Small house in the Third District,” Cid asked. Noctis let go and Sora glowered,

“You could have just told me to stop.”

“Where would the fun in that have been?” Noctis messed with Sora’s spikes.

“There’s a direct path to the Third District near the exit gates,” Cid said.

“Thanks!” Sora said. They entered the Third District and an owl fluttered at Sora.

“Oh! it’s you!”

“Merlin?” Sora said. The owl was caught up in a puff of smoke revealing the elderly wizard.

“I was very so surprised whenever I received a visitor asking me to train you, whenever I already was! You must come to my study right away! I have someone else who’d like to meet you!” Merlin said grabbing Sora’s shoulder and with a flash of light and a swirl of smoke both he and Sora were gone. Noctis shrugged before he made his way towards the door to Merlin’s place, the footsteps behind him let him know the others were following him..

“What was that?” Gladio said.

“Don’t ask,” Noctis, Donald, and Goofy said in unison. Noctis leapt across with Gladio, making it a race, Noctis won, and they waited for Donald and Goofy to make it across.

“Why can’t he have a normal walkway!” Donald grumbled.

“Because that wouldn’t be as fun!” Goofy said. The others just looked at him. “Was it something I said.?”

“You meet the strangest people, Noct,” Gladio said.

“I know. I met you, didn’t I?” Noctis replied.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

They entered the study and there was a lady in blue explaining something about a soul becoming a gem. That niggled at Noctis’s mind for some reason.

“Oh! My,” she looked over Noctis and Gladio with an appraising eye, “The King didn’t mention there being others with the keybearer.”

“He probably didn’t expect us,” Gladio said.

“He was genuinely surprised when I mentioned I’d met a Lucii. He asked about someone called “Regis.” I had to confess that I didn’t know who that was and the Lucii I’d met was you, Noctis. By your reaction, you know this “Regis” fellow?” Merlin said.

“ _King_ Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII of Lucis. That was his full name and title,” Gladio growled, “He was more than just “some fellow” with that name.”

“My apologies. I didn’t mean to insult your King,” Merlin said.

“It’s fine, Gladio,” Noctis said placing a hand on his arm, “He _was_ the King. A great one. I never knew he’d met someone from another world. Perhaps that was something I would have learned in time.”

“Oh. I see now, Your Highness,” Merlin said, “That is also what you meant by there only being one family of Lucii left. Do you have the Ring?” Noctis’s hand covered his breast pocket.

“You know the cost of such a trinket?” Merlin said. Noctis nodded. A flash of his father’s weary, aged face came to mind.

“I do.”

“I need not tell you to be careful of how you use it then, now do I?” Merlin said somberly.

“What’s this Ring you’re talkin’ about?” Goofy asked, “That one you’re keepin’ in your pocket?”

“The Ring of the Lucii. It’s a powerful artifact possessed by the Royal Family of Lucis. It allows the bearer, should they be deemed worthy of it, to command the power of the Crystal of Lucis and the Kings of the Past,” Merlin said.

“But it costs you your life force over time,” Noctis said.

“Oh. So, you use it only when you need it?” Sora said.

“Something like that,” Noctis said.

“Let’s go over magic lessons. It would appear you’ve picked up a new spell on your own there, Sora!” Merlin said, “Have you made any progress in reigning in your elemancy?”

“Some,” Noctis said.

“Good, good! Let’s go Sora! We’ll be back in a jiffy!” Merlin said.

 

“Strange guy.”

“He seems to know his stuff, though,” Noctis said.

“It’s almost weird to see so many people with magic out here,” Gladio said, “Even my own skills feel…different.”

“Traveling out here probably awakened powers you didn’t know you had.” it was the woman in blue. “I’ve been rude. I’m the Fairy Godmother. Traveling out here brings out new abilities in everyone. Even you, Your Highness.”

“Gwarsh! Think we’ve learned anything new?” Goofy said.

“It’s possible, but you’re from a more magic rich environment than these two,” Fairy Godmother said tapping her wand to her chin.

“Are these changes permanent?” Noctis asked.

“Naturally. Once something’s been awakened, it just won’t go away,” Fairy Godmother said, “Not without effort from an outside source.”

“Maybe I’ll finally be able to use a spell without borrowing your magic, then,” Gladio said.

“I don’t feel that sort of potential in you,” Fairy Godmother said, “Enhanced abilities yes, but elemental magic doesn’t seem to be something you’ll ever manifest, but I’m hardly an expert.”

“You’re correct.” Merlin was back with a frizzy haired Sora who gave the others a thumbs up.

“I wish Prompto was here. He’d snap a photo of this and preserve this moment forever,” Gladio said.

“Yeah, well he’d get embarrassing pics of you two too!” Sora said ruffling his hair back into its spikes.

“Already has,” Noctis said, “Comes with the territory of traveling in close quarters for extended periods of time.”

“Pipsqueak knows better than to do anything with them though.” Gladio casually made a fist and Sora gulped. He was reminded of just how _big_ Noctis’s friend was.

“Best meet up with the others. They’re in the small house next to the other doors into the Third District.” Merlin said shooing the group out.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Gladio ran ahead with Noctis giving chase, messing up Sora’s hair playfully enticing the teen to chase after him. Sora stopped short whenever Soldier Heartless appeared but someone else took care of them before he could even summon his keyblade. Someone who looked like…Riku? But he could have sworn he’d seen Kairi earlier. Had to make sure. So he did what any sane person would do: messed with maybe-Riku’s face.

“Hey! cut it out!” Those hands batting his away sure felt real.

“I’m not dreaming, right?” Sora said.

“I hope not. It took forever to find you.” Riku smiled as he crossed his arms. He nodded towards the square and they started walking.

“Wait a sec, where’s Kairi?” Sora asked.

“Isn’t she with you?” Sora shook his head. “We’ll find her. I’m sure she got off the Islands.”Riku paused to look up.

“We’re finally free. Hey, she might be looking for us too. We’ll be together soon. Don’t worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this—.” Riku was cut off. Unbeknownst to him, a heartless was about to attack him. Sora destroyed it with one stroke landing with the keyblade held out.

“Leave it to who?” Sora said with a cocky grin.

“Sora what did you—?”A sword landed next to Sora and Noctis appeared.

“What’s taking you so lon—? Who’s your friend?” Noctis said looking at Riku.

“Wait up!” Goofy said as he and Donald appeared at last.

“Who are they?” Riku asked gesturing to everyone.

“Ahem. My name is—.”

“We’ve visited many worlds looking for you!” Sora said cutting off Donald.

“Really? Well what do you know, I’d have never guessed that,” Riku said.

“And guess what? Sora’s the Keyblade Master!” Goofy said. Noctis wanted to smack the canine-humanoid.

“Who’d have thought it?” Donald said.

“So this is the keyblade?” Riku said. He’d somehow taken it from Sora. That was only the second time Sora had been disarmed, but this seemed… _different_ somehow.

“Hey give it back,” Sora said. Riku held it out of reach so Sora would take a face plant, nearly.

“Here, catch!” Riku threw it back. It was official; Noctis didn’t like Riku. Sure, Noctis was no saint, but he didn’t take stuff from his friends like that.

“Ok, so you’re coming with us right? We have this awesome rocket—?”

“He can’t come!” Donald said. Noctis rolled his eyes. _Donald, really. Again?_

“But he’s my friend.”

“I don’t care!”

“He could ride with us,” Noctis said staring down Donald. The duck “bahhed” but nodded.

“Huh? He’s gone.” Goofy looked extra confused in that moment. Noctis saw that Goofy was right. Riku and vanished during the mini-argument again.

“Riku?” Sora looked back at Donald. “Nice going! Oh well, at least he’s okay; and who knows? Maybe we’ll run into Kairi soon.”

“Maybe,” Noctis said, “Let’s get back up there before Gladio jumps down here.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

“You guys ever hear of Maleficent?” Cid asked. Noctis gave him a look. When would they have heard of this person? “I hear she’s in town.”

“Who’s she?” Sora asked.

“A witch, man, she’s a witch!”

“A Witch? Like a real one?” Gladio said.

“Yes. She’s the reason this town is so full of heartless. Don’t take her lightly,” Leon said.

“She’s been using the heartless for years,” Aerith had spoken.

“We lost our world, thanks to her,” Leon said.

“One day a swarm of heartless took over the world,” Cid said.

“That was nine years ago,” Leon said.

“I got out of that mess and came here with these guys,” Cid said.

“You didn’t think to go back home?” Noctis said.

“Hadn’t even crossed my mind, to be honest,” Cid said.

“Our ruler was a wise man named Ansem. He dedicated his life to studying the Heartless.” Leon said.

“His report on the buggers should tell us how to get rid of the Heartless,” Cid said.

“So where’s this report?” Sora asked.

“We don’t know. It was scattered when our world was destroyed,” Leon admitted.

“I’m sure Maleficent’s got most of the pages,” Cid added.

——————————————————————————————————

Riku glared in through the window at Sora and his other _friends_ while Maleficent stood by his side.

“You see? It’s just as I told you. While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions. Evidently he values them far more than he does you. You’re better off without that wretched boy. Now think no more of him and come with me. I’ll help you find what you’re looking for….”

——————————————————————————————————

“You navigation gummi’s installed and ready to go. You find another one, you bring it to me. I threw in a warp gummi for the heck of it. Now you can jump to worlds you’ve already been too without having the hassle of going back to them the long way!” Cid said. A bell rang.

“What was that?” Nocits asked.

“The bell in the second district. It doesn’t usually ring,” Aerith said.

“Where is it?” Sora asked.

“It’s above the Gizmo shop. There’s a legend about it, you know,” Yuffie said.

“But it’s all boarded up and nobody can get there,” Aerith said.

“Heck, go check it out! Ring it three times to see if anything happens,” Cid said.

“Sounds like something worth checking into to me,” Gladio said.

—————————————————————————————————————

“Having trouble keeping up?” Noctis taunted. He’d used warp strike to get past the others and was on top of the ladder looking down at the others.

“If I could cheat like you, I’d be up there too!” Sora said.

“Not cheating if no one says I can’t,” Noctis said. He saw there were lots of heartless. “Better hurry, I have company.” Noctis warped through them and found the green ones were _healing_ the others. This could be a pain in the ass. They were also using a strange magic that reminded him of Prompto’s Gravisphere. It hurt whatever it was. He targeted the green ones as best he could and soon the magic around him wasn’t just that of his enemies. Sora and Donald were casting now. Within a few moments, everything was done. The boards were in the way for only a few moments. Five pairs of hands made short work of the boards. The pull waited.

“After you,” Noctis said gesturing for Sora to grab the pull. Sora nodded and rang the bell once. There was a grinding sound that drew everyone else’s eyes down into the square below. The empty fountain filled up with flames as the stone face behind it rotated. Another ring ended the flames and put lights on. The final ring caused the water to flow, a third new mural, with butterflies on it to appear, and a large keyhole.

“Another one of those, huh,” Noctis said.

“Maybe I’m supposed to be finding them,” Sora said.

“Then you’ll better lock it,” Goofy said, “Like you’ve been locking the others.

“Why say that?” Donald said.

“Didn’t you hear the locking sound whenever Sora took care of the other three?” Goofy said.

“Makes sense. That’s a key, those are keyholes,” Gladio said.

“But why does he need to lock them?” Noctis said, “That’s the question we should be asking.”

————————————————————————————————————————

Noctis took the long way down waiting for the others to climb down after him. Another fight through the heartless infested gizmo shop, and a stroll down the heartless infested sidewalks to the keyhole. Another clanking set of armor fell before them.

“It doesn’t give up, does it?” Noctis said.

“You sure said it!” Goofy said.

“Then we’ll have to beat it again,” Sora said.

“Yeah!” Donald said.

“This doesn’t even look like a workout,” Gladio said. The first few hits sent the guard armor down into pieces.

“That’s it?” Donald said. The armor shuddered and then inverted. Gauntlet hands were now feet and the boot feet were now claw like hands. The chest plate flipped upside down and the head’s eyes were now visible.

“This looks like it just got good,” Gladio said.

“Just don’t forget we’re here to win, not have fun,” Noctis said.

“We can still beat it even with it’s new form,” Sora said, “I’m sure we can.” Noctis and Gladio split up. Noctis focused on taking down a hand-foot, Gladio on one of the claw foot-hands. Sora seemed to be going after the chest while Donald was casting magic. Goofy went after the other hand-foot. With a burst of light Noctis finished his off and joined Sora. Gladio flipped to the other claw foot-hand and Goofy finished his hand-foot and also joined the three physical attackers in taking on the chest plate. It spun sending Noctis flying back. He used a warp to land in a good position only to have Sora crash into him.

“You alright?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Sora said with a nod. They both charged back into the fight while Donald continued his barrage of magic, mostly Thundara and Blizara and Gladio kept up his assault with his sword, blocking with his shield when needed. Goofy was sent over their heads a few moments after the pair re-engaged the Reverse Armor.

“I got him, you two keep going!” Gladio said disengaging to check on Goofy.

The chest plate exploded in a burst of light leaving on the head for them to finish off, which compared to the rest of the body, was easy. The large glowing heart was released and the five flopped down.

“I thought the coliseum was tough,” Gladio said.

“Time to do your thing,” Noctis said. Sora nodded and stood up aiming his keyblade at the mural. As usual light shot out from the tip of his weapon and a locking sound was heart. The key hole vanished leaving only a gummi block and the rest of the butterfly mural behind.

“Think Cid will know what it is?” Sora said.

“Gwarsh, I think he would,” Goofy said.

“Let’s get out of here before more heartless show up,” Donald said.

“Agreed,” Noctis said. He lot out a jaw cracking yawn.

“Tired already? You’ve fought in longer battles than this,” Gladio said shoving Noctis lightly as they exited the second district returning to the first district.

“You’re not looking energetic either,” Noctis said.

“Don’t try turning this back on me because you’re lazy,” Gladio said.

“Says the man who’s only cooking skills consist of boiling water for cup noodles.”

“You leave cup noodles out of this!”

——————————————————————————-------———————————————

“Hey Prince! I got the old girl all fixed up for you. You should see her now!” Cindy said entering the accessory shop where the group was looking at items.

“Prince? I thought he was a King?” Donald said.

“I guess he is a king, now that I think about it,” Cindy said, “I just met him before that.”

“I don’t mind. She’s ready?” Noctis said.

“Sure is. Old girl will fly between worlds now like that gummi ship your two critter friends fly. Though, it was hard to get firepower into the old girl, I managed it but don’t over heat the system or it’ll shut the whole thing down,” Cindy said.

“Are you leaving us then?” Sora asked. The look in his eyes was a mix of hurt and resignation.

“How about this, if those two won’t mind. We’ll still travel together but Gladio and I will be flying in the Regalia behind you three covering your rear. Sound good, or does it _interfere with your mission too much_?” Noctis said. Gladio’s eyebrow raised at the last part of Noctis’s sentence.

“Sounds ok to me!” Goofy said. It had gone right over Goofy’s head.

“Yeah, fine,” Donald said. Donald had gotten the message loud and clear.

“We should probably keep going then,” Sora said.

“You find any more navigation gummis, bring them to Uncle Cid!” Cindy said, “And you two find any other parts for the old girl bring them to me.”

“Thanks, Cindy,” Noctis said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is again, right on it's bi-weekly schedule.  
> For those hoping Luna would give Riku a message for Noct, that would require her knowing that there are other ways to get off worlds than it being destroyed. She'd also have no way of knowing Riku would encounter Noctis and even then, have any way of letting Riku know who to look for. 
> 
> Next time: Agrabah!


	6. The Regalia Blasts Off! Trouble in the Desert.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora, Noctis, Gladio, Goofy, and Donald arrive at the next world, to find a city under siege and a Princess in distress. While searching for her companion they run into a familiar face and understand the true meaning of "Be Careful What You Wish For."

——————————————————————————————————

 ****“You sure you should be doing this, Noct?” Gladio asked as Noctis climbed into the now winged vehicle.

“Relax, Gladio,” Noctis said as he eased the Regalia out into space following behind the gummi ship.

“You guys get lost, let us know!” Sora’s face had appeared on the GPS unit in the converted car’s dashboard next to the routes in interspace that had been marked mapped out thus far by the other ship. It looked like Cid had given them a copy of the data.

“Will do.”

“We’re not waiting for you,” Donald squawked. Noctis’s eyes narrowed a little.

“Likewise. We’re heading for the newest point after Deep Jungle, right?” Noctis said.

“Yep! See you there, a-hy-yuck!” Goofy said before the others signed off leaving just the nav-screen.

“And you haven’t tried to punch the duck yet,” Gladio said.

“To be fair, I tried to kill them when we met because I thought they were talking daemons,” Noctis said.

“With as annoying as that duck is, I don’t blame you,” Gladio said, “What's with the tone at the end? I usually only hear you like  _that_  towards Nifs.”

“We crashed onto a world the navigation unit calls “Deep Jungle” because Donald refused to look there. He wanted to keep looking for his King, and taking a few moments to search for Sora’s friends was just not something he was willing to do even though I was there whenever they _did_ offer the kid help in exchange with him going along with his key. If the Regalia had been able to fly at that point I might have told them to shove off. I can’t shake the feeling they’re just using the kid,” Noctis said.

“That fancy keyblade is the reason they wanted him to come along?” Gladio said, “They seem to get along with the kid good enough. Well, the dog does. I can’t get a read on the duck. I can’t believe we’re actually have a conversation about a duck and a dog maybe exploiting a kid’s magic weapon.”

“Prompto would probably be having a field day with this. This is just like that game series he loves,” Noctis said.

“They seem to be putting on speed on purpose,” Gladio said.

“The duck can try to lose me, but if I know Cindy, she’s given us a few tricks up our sleeves,” Noctis said as he pressed the pedal allowing them to catch the other ship easily. The heartless ships appeared and Noctis glanced at dashboard and saw there was a set of controls in front of Gladio.

“You’re the gunner in this, Gladio,” Noctis said.

“Great. Just shoot like in a video game,” Gladio said. He fired at the ships that got past the others and it turned out whoever was the gunner in the first ship was good. Few came from the front, but the sides were a different story. Gladio was constantly defending those. A beep let Noctis know they were finally at the next world.

——————————————————————————————————

They landed outside a sandy walled city and Noctis immediately regretted the fact the royal family’s preferred color was black. It was worse than Lestallum.

“So hot.”

“Then lose the jacket,” Gladio said.

“And go around shirtless like you?” Noctis said as they caught up with the others.

“What, afraid to show off your lack of muscles?” Gladio said.

“I have muscles, you just can’t see them,” Noctis said awkwardly. The others were staring at them.

“Why don’t we get into the city,” Noctis said stomping ahead.

“It really is hot here, though,” Sora said with a shrug. There was a deserted market before them. It reminded Noctis of what an ancient version of Lestallum might look like. Then the heartless appeared.

“Let’s do this,” Gladio said.

“Here we go!” Goofy said.

The heartless, while different as now there were ones wielding scimitars and dressed like bandits and fat ones like the large bodies spitting fire, weren’t all that much harder than the soldiers and shadows they’d already faced. Noctis nodded to Gladio as they flipped over a Fat Bandit and slashed its back making it explode. Sora was doing well going blade to blade with the bandits while Donald and Goofy were good at supporting Sora’s fighting style. Noctis joined Sora giving the teen a boost as he landed behind a Fat Bandit slicing it with his keyblade. A few more hits from Sora and it went down.

“Where're all the people?” Gladio said.

“Maybe the Heartless scared ‘em into hiding?” Goofy said.

“Maybe,” Sora said, “Let’s keep looking for someone.”

The next area had more heartless and three paths to choose from. It was also just as abandoned as the first area. Noctis summoned his armiger and obliterated the remaining Heartless. When he stood up after releasing his magic, he turned to see the others were staring at him.

“That's amazing!” Sora said, “Can I learn to do that?”

“Sorry. That’s part of my family’s magic,” Noctis said. There was a noise coming from the alley to the left. So, the group exchanged looks before heading down the alley to find a beautiful dark tan young woman hiding behind some crates. She wore a blue two piece outfit with a blue headband that had a blue gem above her lovely brown eyes.

“Hello? Who’s there?” she asked.

“I’m Sora!” Sora said.

“Donald Duck!”

“Goofy!”

“I’m Gladiolus Amicitia.”

“Noctis.”

“I’m Jasmine. My father’s the sultan of Agrabah,” she said.

“Uh… so that makes you a princess?” Goofy said.

“Yes. My father was deposed by Jafar, though, and he controls the city now.

“Jafar?” Goofy said.

“You haven’t heard of him?” Jasmine said.

“We’re not exactly from this city,” Noctis said.

“He was the royal vizier. Somehow he gained evil powers and used them to take over Agrabah. He’s desperately searching for something called the “keyhole.” Jafar caught me while I was trying to escape but then _he_ helped me escape—.”

“He who?” Sora asked.

“We were hiding here but he had to leave to take care of something. I hope Aladdin’s ok,” Jasmine said.

“Aladdin? Where might I find this street rat?” the voice was the very definition of an oily voice. Noctis was immediately reminded of Ardyn Izunia. Though, this guy was lacking the same charisma Ardyn had in spades.

“Princess Jasmine, allow me to find you more _suitable_ company than these street rats,” he said.

“Jasmine, run!” Sora yelled summoning the keyblade.

“Ah, the boy with the key!” Jafar said. Noctis summoned his weapons as the others did so too forming ranks to protect Jasmine. With a flourish, Jafar summoned more heartless and the group took them out only to find Jafar had used that diversion to escape.

“Did Aladdin have any place to fall back to, Your Highness? Noctis asked.

“There’s always his loft. Follow me!” Jasmine said. The princess’s bright blue garb stood out against the tan of the city making it easy to see her as she navigated the city showing them a path up to an abandoned building. A stable loft was revealed after climbing up a pole. A carpet was moving. Sora poked it only to have it slap his hand with a tassel.

“Sorry, had to make sure you were real,” Sora said. The moving carpet shrugged.

“I’ve heard of these in stories. It’s a Magic Carpet,” Jasmine said. The Magic Carpet nodded before it began gesturing really quickly.

“Do you want something?” Gladio said. The Magic Carpet nodded.

“Ok. Does it have to do with why you’re in Aladdin’s loft?” Sora asked. The Carpet nodded vigorously.

“Is Aladdin in trouble?” Jasmine asked. More vigorous nodding.

“Can you take us to him?” Goofy asked. The Magic Carpet nodded one last time before making a follow me gesture.

“You should probably stay here, Your Highness,” Noctis said.

“I—You’re right. Please, bring him back,” Jasmine said.

“Of course,” Sora said.

——————————————————————————————————

They followed the magic carpet through the city, fighting off more heartless, but it was getting easier to handle these new heartless with more repetitions.

“We have a problem,” Gladio said once they made it outside the city where the carpet was stretching and pointing out over the desert.

“What?” Noctis said.

“We’re going to have to be very strategic on how we’re all going to fit on this magic flying rug,” he said.

“Right.”

“How are we gonna do that?” Goofy said. It ended up with Gladio sitting on the back with his legs dangling, Noctis sitting on one side also with his legs dangling, directly behind him was Goofy sitting like that, Donald in the middle, and Sora sitting on his knees in front. It was a slightly bumpy ride but they managed it. Sort of.

“There!” Sora said. There was a man caught in the sand and next to him was a pair of flailing arms. Noctis recognized the fingerless gloves and wristbands. They were surrounded by heartless.

“Prompto!” The group jumped off the Magic Carpet landing in the sand and fighting off the surrounding heartless before helping both men out of the sand.

“Gladio! Noct! Man is it good to see you guys!” Prompto yelled dragging both of them into a large hug. “I thought I was a goner there. Aladdin got stuck trying to help me and you saw our _other_ company.”

“We leave you for a day and you’re already nearly drowning in sand,” Noctis said shaking his head.

“It’s been ** _two_** days,” Prompto said dusting sand out of his hair, “Introductions. Aladdin, these two are two of my friends. Noct, Gladio, this is Aladdin. He’s been _awesome_.”

“Nice to meet you two. Who are you three?” Aladdin asked pointing at Sora, Donald and Goofy.

“I’m Sora. That’s Donald, and that’s Goofy. We met Noctis in Traverse Town,” Sora said.

“Oh no, not these guys again!” Donald said whenever they were beset by more heartless.

“Just like always, we’re up to our necks in this, right Noct?” Prompto said drawing his guns.

“Just like always,” Noctis said.

“I’ll handle this,” Aladdin said pulling out a rust lamp. “Genie, I wish that you’d get rid of these heartless.” The lamp shook and blue smoke shot out forming into a blue being.

“One batch of monsters vamoosed coming right up!” The humanoid flexed his arms, stretched as if he was going to do something majorly physically impressive but then just snapped his fingers and the heartless were instantly gone.

“Easy-peasy lemon-squeezey!” it said.

“Whoa. How did you do that?” Sora asked. “Why were you two even out here anyway?”

“You know, hunting legendary treasure. The moment I mentioned a treasure hunt, Prompto was eager to join me. We paid a visit to the Cave of Wonders I found the Magic Carpet and this lamp containing—.”

“Kid, leave the intros to the professional. Introducing the one the only, the ever impressive, the long contained, often imitated, but never duplicated, **_Genie of the Lamp_**!” The Genie said using magic to set off a fireworks show behind him. There was also what sounded like a pre-recorded round of cheering like on a cheap TV show. “The lucky finder of the lamp is given three wishes.” Two Genie duplicates appeared. “You use one.” Duplicate one poofed, “You use two.” The other duplicate poofed. “You use three and I split like a banana split and beat it.”

“Any three wishes?” Donald asked, his eyes wide with greed.

“Not exactly. Rule number one, I can’t kill people, **_so don’t ask_**. Rule two, I can’t make anyone fall in love with anyone else. Rule number three. I can’t bring people back from the dead. It’s not a pretty picture; _I don’t like doing it_! Also no wishing for more wishes, but I think that goes without saying, am I right?” Genie said. “So, Al, you’ve used wish number one. What will be wish number two?”

“I’d like to be a fabulously rich prince,” Aladdin said.

“Fame? Royalty! Fortune! Done!” Genie said. Noctis shared an uncomfortable look with the others. “Say the word and it’ll happen! I’m thinking jewel tones, or actual jewels!”

“We’d probably better wait until we’re back at the city for that,” Aladdin said.

“Why a prince?” Goofy asked.

“There’s this girl back in Agrabah but she’s a Princess, and she’d great but I’m not a prince so she can’t fall for a guy like me—.”

“Princess?” Donald said.

“Do you mean Princess Jasmine?” Noctis said.

“That’s right, we need to get back to Agrabah. Jasmine could be in trouble!” Sora said.

“What? Well C’mon, let’s get going!” Aladdin said, “Though, there are a bit more of us than Carpet can hold.”

“Not to worry, you weren’t the only one to find something in that cave,” Prompto said. He went over to a pile of sand and pulled out what looked like a giant kite.

“Magic Carpet, meet Floating Kite,” Prompto said. The kite didn’t seem as animated as the Carpet, but it was floating on its own power after the sand was removed. Prompto climbed on it and Noctis joined him with Gladio.

“If one of you could grab hold of the tail, you can tow us behind you!” Prompto said.

“Sure!” Goofy said with an eager nod. Donald rolled his eyes.

—————————————————————————————————————————

They were off across the desert. These arrangements worked better and even the Genie was enjoying the flight.

“Ah, fresh air! The great out doors!”

“You, uh, don’t get out much, do you?” Sora asked.

“Part and parcel of the whole djinni gig. **Phenomenal Cosmic Powers**! _Itty-bitty living space_ ,” Genie said. Aladdin saw how bummed Genie looked.

“So what would you wish for?” Aladdin asked.

“My freedom. to be my own master would be great. It would be worth more than all the magic and all the wishes in the world, but that’ll never happen,” Genie said, “They only way for me to be free is if my master wishes me free.”

“Then how about if I use my third wish to free you?” Aladdin said.

“Really? You’d do that?” Genie said.

“I promise. My third wish will be to free you,” Aladdin said, “After we help Jasmine.”

—————————————————————————————————————————

They arrived back at the city.

“It’s so weird to see this place so empty,” Aladdin said as they walked through the streets. The heartless, or rather the heartless under Jafar’s direction, had erected a barricade in the center of town.

“We left her in the loft, but I don’t think she stayed there,” Gladio said.

“Jasmine doesn’t like being cooped up, and she’s really worried about her father,” Aladdin said. The group fought off a few heartless on their way to Aladdin’s home. They entered his loft and the Princess was indeed gone.

“Jafar seemed to want the Princess and the Keyhole,” Sora said.

“Keyhole huh? I’ve heard of that before a long time ago. Must have been about 200 years though,” Genie said.

A scream was heard.

“That came from the palace!” Aladdin said.

“I’m guessing that blocked off area leads to it?” Noctis said.

“There’s another way. Follow me!” Aladdin said taking them over rooftops. They arrived above a courtyard where Jasmine was struggling against Jafar’s grip on her arm.

“Jasmine!”Aladdin yelled as they leapt down.

“Setting your sights a bit high, aren’t you boy? Go back to your hole, street rat!” Jafar said.

“Aladdin, I’m sorry!” Jasmine said trying to twist free.

“Genie, help Jasmine!” Aladdin said holding the lamp aloft. Jafar’s eyes widened whenever they saw the lamp.

“Geeze, Al, you’re making this easy!” Genie said carrying Jasmine over to Aladdin.

“I’m sorry, boy, your second wish is denied!” Aladdin saw his lamp had been snatched by Jafar’s parrot, Iago.

“Sorry, Al.” Genie poofed away and Jasmine was left to fall through the air screaming. Noctis warped over in an attempt to catch her only to be knocked out of the air by a heartless, leaving her to fall into a claypot that grew legs and more joined it making a pot centipede which was rapidly scuttling towards the desert. Jafar had vanished, again.

“Jasmine!” Aladdin chased after it leaving the other six to run after the Heartless too.

“We’re not going to catch it!” Aladdin said.

“I have an idea,” Sora said. He pulled out that gem. “Courage!” The light shone and a lion with a red mane materialized roaring. It took off after the pots with greater speed than any of the humans had and took down half it’s rapidly growing body in one pounce slowing it down. The lion vanished but his work was done. The heroes descended on the Pot Centipede and smashed it to bits revealing, Jasmine wasn’t even there!”

“No!” Aladdin said.

“What if Jafar was also headed to that Cave Place?” Goofy said, “This monster sure seemed like it was headed there.”

“Of course, where else would something like whatever this Keyhole is be,” Prompto said.

“Some aren’t as well hidden as that, but it makes sense,” Noctis said.

“You guys know what the Keyhole is?” Aladdin said.

“Sort of. We’ve found some in the past. We’re not sure what they’re for, but I seem to be able to lock them,” Sora said.

“This is so like Keywarriors!” Prompto said.

“Is everything a video game to you?” Noctis said.

“Of course! It’s the only way a pleeb like myself ever hoped to have an adventure before our _current_ adventure,” Prompto said jerking a thumb at his chest.

“Let’s get back to that cave,” Sora said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Everyone leapt down from their rides and Prompto buried the floating kite under some sand.

“Otherwise it’ll float away,” he said. They approached the mound of sand, and Aladdin seemed ready to speak whenever he stopped short.

“Uh-oh, something’s wrong with the cave,” he said.

“Why?” Sora said.

“The eyes are all wrong,” Aladdin said. The Cave snarled and attacked them.

“I guess that means we’re doing this,” Noctis said dodging a beam of light that shot out of the sandy tiger’s head’s eyes. They were glowing a malevolent purple color. Noctis warped his way past a few of them to land a blow to the one eye. It roared and the purple seemed to be dissipating.

“Aim for the eyes!” Noctis yelled. Sora nodded and joined Noctis in attacking the eyes while the others avoided the attacks and took care of the heartless that had spawned around the corrupted cave-head. With a final blow from each, the cave stilled and the eyes glowed yellow.

“Who disturbs my slumber?” it asked.

“It is I, Aladdin,” Aladdin said.

“The Diamond in the Rough. You may enter, but be warned, touch nothing but the lamp and the keyhole,” it said.

“Rodger that!” Prompto said.

“So how did you get that kite if you weren’t supposed to touch anything?” Gladio asked.

“There are no rules against stuff touching you,” Prompto said, “And technically, I didn’t touch it first, Carpet did.”

“Things look different this time,” Aladdin said as they entered the Cave of Wonders.

“Yeah, he’s right. This was way more spooky and less heartless filled last time,” Prompto said as a Fat Bandit leapt down creating a shockwave that sent Prompto over the edge into the darkness

“Ahh!”

“Prompto!” Noctis yelled jumping after his friend.

“We’ll catch up, keep going to find that Keyhole!” Gladio said as he went down the stairs he had noticed off to the side.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Noctis grabbed Prompto’s arm and used a dagger to slow his descent. They landed in a pool of water in a dimly lit area.

“Thanks. I saw my life flash before my eyes. It was mostly boring,” Prompto said, “Bwuahaha! Your hair looks ridiculous!” Noctis ran a hand over his hair and found his spikes had been flattened down. So had Prompto’s spikes.

“You’re one to talk,” he said.

“No! My ‘doo!” Prompto wailed. They swam to a nearby stairwell that, for some reason went into the water. Must have flooded. They dragged themselves out of the water shaking off what moisture they could. Noctis looked up and froze.

“Dude what—oh! Who’d have thought one of those would be here!” Prompto said. Noctis walked over to the royal tomb and held a hand out. The katana glowed before floating towards him and slamming into his chest making the rest of the armiger appear.

“Dude! You have like almost twelve of them!” Prompto said.

“That makes eleven,” Noctis said.

“So, you two done playing in the water?” Gladio said.

“What? How did you get down here dry?” Prompto said.

“The stairs,” Gladio said pointing at the staircase behind him.

“Let’s catch up to the others then,” Noctis said pushing forwards. They arrived at the treasure chamber to hear yells and fighting. They raced in to see Donald had been turned into a wind-up toy and Goofy was a stuffed animal off to the side. Carpet was a spool of cloth and tassels and Sora and Aladdin were fighting Jafar, whose magical powers seemed to have been pushed into overdrive.

“More annoyances!” he sneered. Noctis warped forwards just before a barrier snapped up blocking Prompto and Gladio from following their King.

“Protect the others,” Noctis said whenever he looked back to see heartless had arrived near the transformed Donald, Goofy, and Carpet.

“Don’t die,” Gladio said.

Noctis focused on the fight and dodged a blast of magic from Jafar.

“You’re an interesting street rat, aren’t you. Your magic seems to be a cut above this little brat’s!”Jafar said as a burst of magic sent Sora through the air. Noctis warped to Sora and slowed his descent before warping to attack Jafar. The magic user simply teleported away.

“How did he get so strong?” He asked Aladdin, who was barely holding his own.

“Used his second wish to become the strongest sorcerer in the world,” Aladdin said.

“His first?”

“He had Genie show him the keyhole. He wants Jasmine to open some door because she’s a Princess,” Aladdin said, “duck!” Noctis rolled away. He crushed an Ether and continued to warp after Jafar.

“Having trouble keeping up?” Jafar taunted.

“No. This is child’s play!” Noctis said.

“Oh? Perhaps I should see if that’s true!” The spell caught Noctis off-guard and the world seemed bigger.

“Noctis?”

“Sora? Oh great.” Noctis realized he was a kid again. Maybe ten at the oldest. The same age he met Prompto. More like the age he first _saw_ Prompto. He could still summon his weapons but they were too big. But his elemancy was intact. Harder to control but still there.

“Don’t worry about me, beat him!” Noctis said warping away from further attacks and he tossed a Thundara sphere at Jafar making the coward scream in pain.

“You’re such a cowardly snake!” Aladdin yelled.

“A snake am I? Why don’t I show you how snake-like I can be!” Jafar turned into a giant king cobra.

“Now you’ve done it,” Genie said from the sidelines.

“So, he’s a giant snake. I’ve faced bigger!” Noctis said.

“As a kid?” Sora asked.

“Sort of, but I didn’t know how to fight then. I killed it later,” Noctis said.

“Look out!” Aladdin said. They dove out of the way of a tail strike. Noctis prepared a blizarra orb.

“Get clear!” he yelled as he threw it. It exploded making Jafar as the snake shriek in outrage. Aladdin and Sora capitalized on the pain and struck several blows to Jafar.

“I don’t understand. I’m the most powerful sorcerer in the world!” Jafar said, “Genie explain this!” Genie’s face became sort of rat like, gaining white hair and he began to explain in a weird tone of voice,

“Well, depends on how you define that, boss. You made a wish that could be interpreted several ways. You did specify _this_ world so I didn’t have to make you more powerful than anyone outside this world. You also didn’t tell me that you wanted to be more powerful from anyone from outside this world and therefore you’re the most powerful person _native_ to this world,” Genie said regaining his usual form, “Too bad for you that this means that you’re only marginally more powerful than these two.” He pointed from Sora to Noctis. Snake Jafar lashed out and caught Aladdin in his coils.

“Move and he dies,” Jafar said to the pair.

“Face it Jafar, you’re a second rate. Without the Genie you’re nothing!” Aladdin said.

“True, his powers do exceed my own, but not for long,” Jafar said.

“Al, what are you doing?” Genie said.

“I think I get it,” Sora said. Noctis stared at Sora who nodded to the lamp. **_Oh_**.

“Slave! For my final wish, turn me into an all powerful djinni!” Jafar demanded.

“Coming right up. Nice going, Al,” Genie said. Aladdin nodded. The magic hit the giant snake and the tail became smoke dropping Aladdin to the ground.

“Yes! The power! The absolute power!” Jafar said as he transformed into a red djinni. At the base of his tail, a black lamp formed. Aladdin went to grab it only for Iago to dive at it. Noctis and Sora shooed the bird away allowing Aladdin to grab the black metal.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Aladdin asked.

“What?” Manacles shaped themselves into place on Jafar’s wrists

“You wanted to be a djinni? You got it, and everything that goes with it,” Aladdin said hoisting up the lamp.

“No! No! Nooooo!” Jafar screamed as the lamp pulled him in.

“I’m outta here Jafar! Let go!” Both Iago and Jafar were trapped in the lamp.

“Phenomenal Cosmic Power,” Aladdin said.

“Itty-bitty living space,” Sora said. The magic keeping the others back vanished allowing a reformed Carpet, a restored Donald and Goofy, Gladio, and Prompto to run over. Noctis glowed and became his adult self again.

“I managed to get a picture of you as a kid. You were so cute. What happened?” Prompto said. Noctis rolled his eyes.

“I think 10,000 years down here out to chill them out,” Genie said flicking the lamp into the depths of the Cave.

“Jasmine!” They went back to the keyhole but Jasmine was gone! Sora locked the keyhole with little fanfare. Then the whole room began to shake.

“We need to run!” Aladdin said. Everyone crowded onto carpet. Rather they tried. There wasn’t enough room.

“I’ll keep up by warping,” Noctis said as he warped out ahead of the disaster of lava bubbling up behind them leaving everyoneelse to crowd onto the carpet and hang on for dear life. Noctis burst out of the tiger’s mouth and rolled onto the sand panting. He was out of MP and ethers. The others landed next to him. They dug up the Floating Kite and made it back to Aladdin’s house.

“Jasmine’s been taken out of Agrabah! We’ve got to find her!” Aladdin said after he returned from searching the city from top to bottom.

“Sorry, we can’t take you with us,” Sora said.

“Why not?” Aladdin said.

“Yeah, why not?” Prompto asked.

“It would be messing with the World Order. We can go place to place because we’re already displaced and looking for the others,” Noctis said.

“I sure wish we could,” Goofy said.

“But we just can’t,” Donald said.

“Aladdin, we promise we’ll find her,” Sora said.

“Uh, Hello? Earth to Al! You still have one wish left! Say the word and I’ll go find her!” Genie said lifting up Aladdin’s chin only to have him look down.

“Genie I wish….for your freedom.”

“One found Princess coming up-Al!” Light surrounds the genie as his tail formed legs and the cuffs fell off his wrists.

“A deal’s a deal. You’re your own master now and can go anywhere you want. Though, it’d be great of you could help the guys find Jasmine,” Aladdin said.

“Sorry, Al. I’m done taking orders from others!” Genie crossed his arms and looked away. Aladdin deflated, Genie cracked an eye open. “Now a _favor,_ that’s entirely different! I’ll give it a try! After all, we’re pals, aren’t we Al?”

“Genie…”

“Just leave it to me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie. This was my **favorite** chapter to write thus far. _Aladdin_ is one of my favorite Disney films and my Bestie's favorite all time Disney film. I substituted in actual lines from the movie I'd wished had been in the game. I also actually reference the musical at one point :D.
> 
> Speaking of references, I added in a REALLY old one. Let me know if anyone catches it.  
> Hint: Cartoon from the early 2000's.  
> There's also a secondary reference to a Dreamworks film.  
> ——————————————————————————————————  
>  _Next Up: Mosntro.....with a twist._


	7. Monstro Madness! Regalia vs the Flying fortress! Reunions and Departures.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of the many things they'd seen during their adventures, nothing could have prepared them for a giant flying whale _in inter-space_. While the guys try to figure out how to rescue the gummi ship from the bowels of Monstro, their own problems appear in the form of a flying fortress.  
>  Within the chaos, light reveals the truth of many things.  
> Somethings that were lost are found and others appear to be even farther gone than before.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“The Regalia _flies_ now? That’s totally **_awesome_**!” Prompto said as they walked to their parked vehicles. The Regalia’s wings gleamed in the sunlight.

“You have the leave the Floating Kite here. It’ll never fit in the car,” Noctis said nodding at the tethered kite.

“I know. But I got some great pics from it and during the fight too!” Prompto held up his camera.

“Can I see?” Sora asked.

“Sure!” Prompto flipped through them on his camera display showing them off to the others.

“Get rid of that!” Donald said pointing to the picture of him as a wind-up toy.

“I dunno, I think it’s pretty cute!” Goofy said.

“So you like the one of you as toy too?” Donald said pointing to the stuffed Goofy.

“I think I make a nice toy,” Goofy said.

“Look, little Noctis!’ Prompto said scrolling to the first picture of kid Noctis.

“He really was a cute kid!” Goofy said. Sora had the strangest feeling he’d see that face before and not as the Noctis he knew.

_“Say “Noct is the coolest,” Astri!”_

_“Noct coo!”_

“Sora? Are you alright?” Goofy said.

“Fine,” Sora said after a moment.

“Alright, let’s get going. It’s a shame we couldn’t take Aladdin with us, though. He’s pretty handy in a fight,” Prompto said.

“Yeah, but we have Genie,” Noctis said, “And he’s a bit handier in a fight.”

“Let’s keep going,” Donald said tapping his foot before he stalked off to the gummi ship.

“Sorry about that, Donald’s never uh been very good with patience,” Goofy said following the talking duck.

“So they can world hop being a talking duck and dog but a human can’t?” Prompto asked Noctis and Gladio. They shrugged as they climbed into the Regalia.

“We have guns?” Prompto said eagerly looking at the controls on the dash before him.

“Don’t over do it or they’ll overheat and break,” Noctis said, “Cindy’s orders.”

“Can’t disobey those!” Prompto said. They took off towards the next world whenever something appeared on radar and outside the windows.

“Guys!” Prompto said. Noctis saw a giant whale swallow the gummi ship whole it headed for them but something shot at it. It was a flying fortress.

“How did one of these get out into interspace!” Gladio said.

“Better yet, how is one of those handling interspace,” Noctis said as he wove between bursts of fire from the flying fortress.

“I don’t know if we can win this fight with our fire power,” Prompto said.

“If we don’t, it won’t matter,” Noctis said as he strafed the Regalia allowing Prompto to score hits to the underside of the flying fortress.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“That’s my gummi block!” Sora opened his eyes to see a walking, talking puppet fighting with Donald over a gummiblock.

“Pinocchio!” Jimmy Cricket, who had stayed on the ship for the most part and therefore hadn’t interacted with the outside world until this point suddenly burst into view, “What have I told you about lying?

“But you’re my conscience and when you’re around I won’t lie!” Pinocchio said. The wooden puppet’s elongated nose shrunk.

“I see you were swallowed by the whale too, my goodness. I’m Geppetto, Pinocchio’s father. We were separated and I’ve been looking all over trying to find him. Has he been a good boy in my absence?” Geppetto said.

“We really haven’t run into him until now,” Sora said.

“Well, we’ve all had quite the journey, right Pinocchio?” Pinocchio was gone! “Pinocchio? I’ve wanted him not to wander off in here, but he’s such a naughty boy. Even so, he’s still precious to me.”

“We’ll find him, Geppetto,” Sora said.

“We sure will,” Goofy said.

“Right,” Donald said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Noctis really was feeling his limits as a pilot as he barely avoided more bursts of fire. Prompto was doing his best with the limitations they had with the guns.

“Could really use Iggy right now,” Prompto said, “He’d figure out which exhaust port we needed to shoot!”

“Maybe if we could blast our way inside that thing,” Gladio said.

“That’s crazy enough to work,” Noctis said, “Prompto, how are we on the guns?”

“They’re really close to overheating!” Prompto said taking a few more shots at the flying fortress.

“They’re opening the ramp, there!” Gladio yelled. Noctis saw it and dove the Regalia below and between bursts of fire while Prompto picked off a few of the MT’s off then a mobile armor unit lumbered into view. Prompto used the guns on it until the alarms blared. Fortunately, the mobile armor unit blew up, taking a few of the MT’s around it with it. Noctis pressed a button marked land and made a bumping lading as the wings folded back into the Regalia’s frame.

“I didn’t know it could do that!” Prompto said.

“That make two of us,” Noctis said.

“Three of us,” Gladio said. They were surrounded by MT’s. So, they did what they always did in this situation: they summoned their weapons and got to work.

“Why aren’t you using magic on these guys?” Prompo asked as he dodged a MT Axeman’s swing and took him out with a shot to the head.

“And risk damaging the Regalia?” Noctis said.

“I thought you could reign it in better now!”

“Better but not totally!” Noctis said sliding under a swing and warping behind the MT Assassin’s blades blindsiding it and sending it into other MT Assassains. As usual, these were trickier than the average MT. Noctis took several hits before he phased away from them and right into a large group of MT Riflemen. These were easier to dispose of than the MT Assassins by a long shot. A few swings from his great sword and they were done. He had breathing room enough to summon his pole-arm and attack the MT Assassins from behind, though their movements were still hard to get past. A blade sliced close to his neck making Noctis warp away into another group of MT Infantry. It was never ending.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“Pinocchio! Stop fooling around! This is no time for games!” Sora looked around the innards of Monstro as he searched for the living puppet.

“But Sora, I thought you liked games.” Riku! He was up high near some orifice. “But are you too good for them now that you’ve got that keyblade.

“Riku! Wh-what are you doing here?”

“Just playing with Pinocchio,” Riku said.

“You know what I mean! What about Kairi? Did you find her?”

“Maybe. Catch us and I’ll tell you.” Riku had Pinocchio by the hand and led him further into the belly of the beast. They did not have time for this!

———————————————————————————————————————————

“Noct, back me up!” Gladio yelled. Noctis nodded before he warped over to help Gladio finish off his group of MT Axemen.

“A little help here!” Prompto was up against a pillar and shooting at the MT Swordsmen nearest to him. Noctis warped to the pillar and dropped down summoning a great-sword sending the MT’s back before going back to his sword and going to town with Prompto’s support.

“Get to Gladio, and get the Regalia out of here,” Noctis said.

“But Noct—.”

“Go!” Noctis said throwing Prompto to the big swordsman.

“That really was selfless.” Ardyn. Noctis looked up and saw the mysterious councilor was staring down at him. “You’d be able to take care of all of these nuisances if you just used the Ring, you know.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t working with Maleficent and the heartless!” Noctis blocked a few more hits before taking out the nearby MT’s with a Thundara, being finally far enough away from the Regalia to not fear destroying the vehicle.

“Those things are beneath me, and helping that boy is definitely beneath you,” Ardyn sneered, “He’s not even the one destined for that blade, just the runner up. Just like his whole life he was not destined for anything but to be a back-up to someone older than him.”

“What the hell do you know about Sora anyway!” Noctis warped and took down an MT Sniper and then repeated the action two more times.

“A fair bit more than you appear to, Noctis. You haven’t even realized it yet!” Ardyn laughed before he casually swaggered away.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Maleficent appeared next to Riku who watched from above as Sora searched for him and the puppet.

“Why do you still care for that boy? He all but abandoned you for that keyblade.”

“I don’t. I’m just messing with him,” Riku said.

“Oh really? Of course you were. Beware the darkness in your heart. The heartless are drawn to it,” Maleficent said.

“Mind your own business,” Riku said. The Witch smirked and left.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“Noct!” Gladio and Prompto rejoined him.

“I thought I told you to get away from here?” Noctis said.

“Are you kidding? We’d never live it down if Specs ever found out!” Prompto siad.

“Iggy aside, we’d never forgive ourselves,” Gladio said, “So you’re stuck with us until the bitter end.”

“I could think of worse ways to meet my end, nothing comes to mind but there are probably worse ways,” Noctis said.

“What did that Ardyn guy want now?” Prompto asked.

“The usual mind games,” Noctis said.

“Surprised he’s not working with the heartless and that witch too,” Gladio said.

“I asked about that and he considers them to be “beneath him” so now we have two enemies,” Noctis said.

“Just be glad they’re not working together,” Prompto said, “Imagine the nightmare of a heartless MT.”

“That’s an oxymoron,” Gladio said.

“That’s **_not_** what I meant, and you know it,” Prompto took a few more MT’s out. They were in a corner whenever it almost felt like Noctis’s eyes were burning. He pulled on the energy, and the feeling spread all over his body and he stumbled forwards.

“Noct, your eyes!” Outside the ship, though the open hanger, the could see electricity building in interspace. A definitely unnatural occurrence.

“He’s summoning an Astral!” Gladio said. A large hand reached into the ship and grabbed Noctis.

“Noct!” Prompto said.

“Get to the Regalia. We don’t want to be here when that Astral attacks,” Gladio said. Prompto gulped and they carved a swath of destruction to the Regalia. Prompto sliding into the gunner front seat. Gladio climbed into the driver’s seat and drove plowing a few MT’s over before finding the button to make the wings extend andaccelerated out of the ship and saw Ramuh, the Fulgurian smite the ship with his staff. The whole thing sparked and shuddered before it exploded. Gladio could see a few air carriers zipping away. He narrowed his eyes. This would not be the last they saw of the empire. He was certain of that.The large hand was coming for them so he threw open his door and caught the body Ramuh deposited in his arms. Noctis was out cold. It took the combined efforts of both Prompto and Gladio to slide Noctis in the back seat to sleep off the summoning.

“That was both incredibly awesome and scary as hell,” Promtpo said.

“You got pictures of it, didn’t you?” Gladio said.

“Of course I did!” Prompto said. “Uh-oh, where’d that whale go?”

“Whale? The Others!” Gladio said before the Regalia gave a worrying wobble.

“We’re going to need to get the old girl fixed first,” Prompto said, “You did a bit of damage there.”

“You should see the other guys.”Gladio punched in the commands to warp to Traverse Town. Luckily it worked. It lurched around a bit but it worked. Noctis was still out cold.

“What’d you guys do to the old girl!” Cindy said.

“We were in a bit of a bind,” Gladio said,

“The Prince ok?” Cindy asked.

“Out cold. It was amazing! He summonsed an Astral!” Prompto said showing her the pictures of Ramuh.

“I’ll get to work on the Old Girl right away,” Cindy said, “It ain’t gonna be cheap, but I can get her fixed.”

———————————————————————————————————————————

“Riku! What’s going on with you? Don’t you realize what you’re doing!” Sora yelled. Donald and Goofy caught up to him at last.

“I was about to ask you that. All you seem to care about these days is running around and showing off that keyblade. Don’t you even want to save Kairi?” Riku said.

“I do.” Pinocchio’s screams echoed up from the bowels of Monstro.

“Pinocchio!” Sora yelled.

“You up for this?” Riku said.

“No problem, are you?” Sora said. They leapt down into the bowled to reveal a cage like Heartless had Pinocchio in it’s grasp, err, body.

“Get me out of here!” Pinocchio wailed.

“Hold on, we’ll save you!” Sora said. Everyone joined the fight, though Riku stayed the farthest back. Donald’s spells, Sora, Goofy, and Riku’s barrage prove too much to the Heartless that decides to spit out Pinocchio, right into another hole in the “ground.” Sora did not want to think about where they really were. Riku dove in after the puppet and the others followed suit. They were….in Monstro’s mouth? There was Geppetto and Riku who was holding Pinocchio.

“Please give me back my son!” he pleaded.

“Sorry, old man, I need this puppet to save a friend of mine,” Riku said.

“Wait a minute, what do you mean by that? What’s happened to Kairi?”

“What do you care?” Riku snapped. His eyes were colder than Sora had ever seen them. “You’d rather save this puppet than let me use his heart to help Kairi! Why are you even fighting me. We should team up to save Kairi.”

“He might be a puppet but at least has a conscience!” Sora said.

“A conscience?” Riku said.

“Pinocchio!” Jiminy Cricket yelled.

“Jiminy!” Pinocchio yelled.

“You might not be able hear it, but mine is telling me loud and clear that you’re in the wrong!” Sora threw the keyblade at Riku, meaning to simply send Riku back a step but he felt other magic flowing and he _warped_ with the weapon. He shoved Riku to the side freeing Pinocchio from his grip, allowing the puppet and Jiminy to jump down to Geppetto. Sora looked down and when he looked back up, Riku was gone and a puddle of darkness rapidly vanished in his wake.

“Riku…” Sora said.

“I can’t thank you three enough! You returned my son and his conscience to me!” Geppetto said.

“It’s our pleasure!” Goofy said.

“Yeah, no prob,” Sora said.

“Are you going to stay with them Jiminy?” Donald asked.

“Well, I did promise the Queen I’d help you, but I promised the Blue Fairy I’d be there for Pinocchio,” Jiminy said.

“It’s ok if you want to go with Geppetto and Pinocchio. They’re you’re friends after all,” Sora said.

“I’m sorry guys, but Pinocchio needs me if he’s going to become a real boy,” Jiminy said, “It’s been a pleasure traveling with you.”

“It’s been great traveling with you too,” Sora said.

“We’ll keep writing the journal, and we’ll show it to ya the next time we see you,” Goofy said.

“Thanks!” Jiminy said.

“It might be a tight fit in my ship,” Geppetto said revealing a nearly two person ship. Well an adult, child, and maybe cricket sized ship.

“That’s ok, we have our own ship,” Sora said pointing to their intact ship off to the side.

“Take this as a token of my gratitude,” he said. It was another summon gem.

“Thanks,” Sora said pocketing it. “Be good Pinocchio.”

“I’ll do my best,” Pinocchio said with a salute.

“I’ll make sure of it!” Jiminy said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“According to this the Regalia is back at Traverse Town,” Sora said.

“We need to keep moving,” Donald said.

“But Sora needs the Fairy Godmother to look at that gem he got,” Goofy said.

“Fine,” Donald said. Sora warped them back to Traverse Town. They saw Cindy was hard at work on the Regalia. It looked a little rough.

“What happened to it?” Sora asked.

“The guys took on a whole Flying Fortress and got the Old Girl banged up,” Cindy said without even looking up. “They’re at the Small House.”

“Thanks!” Sora said. He took the side entrance to the Third District to Merlin’s place because of the Soul Gem Sora had found.

“Good to see you again! Ah, another soul gem!” Merlin said. Fairy Godmother appeared out of her small pumpkin.

“Oh. The poor dear deer!” she said. Sora got a glimpse of the soul in the gem this time. It was a fawn. The name Bambi came to mind.

“Oh, I see you picked up another without even realizing it!” Sora searched through his pockets and did find a second. The glimpse this time was of a flying elephant calf with large ears. Dumbo was the name this time.

“You’ve had other magic awaken, haven’t you?” Merlin said once the Fairy Godmother retreated. Sora looked at Merlin sharply.

“I did what Noctis can do. That warping. I didn’t think anyone could do it but him,” Sora said.

“I was under the impression it was a Lucii only ability, but perhaps the keyblade is able to do more things than I ever thought possible,” Merlin said tapping his chin, “If you want to develop it further, you’d have to ask Noctis. I’m sure he’d know more about it than I do.”

“Will do,” Sora said rubbing the back of his neck.

“Gee, it’s almost like the Keyblade is making you into a better fighter,” Goofy said.

“Who cares. Should help on the mission!” Donald said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“You guys are alright!” Prompto said when he opened the door to see them in it. Noctis was still out cold on a couch in the corner. It looked like it had been dragged in from somewhere else.

“What happened to Noctis?” Sora asked.

“He summoned one of the six Astrals and it took a lot out of him,” Gladio said, “Should be fine.”

“I got pics!” Prompto said holding up the camera. Sora looked at them.

“There’s a lady!” he said.

“Lady Gentiana. She’s an immortal or something. She’s supposed to be the guardian of the Oracle and the messenger of the gods,” Gladio said.

“The Oracle?”

“The Oracle of the Gods. She communicates with the Six and heals those afflicted by daemon taint,” Gladio said, “The current Oracle is Lady Lunafreya of Tenebrae. She’s also Noctis’s fianceé.”

“Fianceé!” Sora, Donald, and Goofy said.

“I thought she was just….” Sora trailed off.

“He’s mentioned Lady Lunafreya to you?” Gladio said.

“Yeah. He just called her “Luna,” though,” Sora said.

“They met when they were kids or something,” Prompto said, “The lunk’s too shy to admit it, but he’s totally in love with her.”

“They’ve been writing letters back and forth for years in a notebook they think no one notices,” Gladio said.

“That sounds like such a sweet story,” Goofy said.

“Well, our trip started off with us heading to Noct’s wedding in the city of Altissia, but things took a turn for the worse and well, here we are!” Prompto said.

“I think you skipped a few steps there,” Sora said.

“It’s too long to get into now,” Gladio said. A groan drew everyone’s attention to the corner.

“Noct!” Prompto said rushing over to the bedside. Noctis’s eyes slowly opened revealing they were back to their regular blue. The glowing magenta color was gone.

“I feel like I got roasted by ten of my own thundara spells.” Noctis said up holding his head.

“Well, you summoned Ramuh the Fulgurian so it was more like a _thousand_ of your best _thundaga_ spells,” Prompto said.

“I sortof remember that now. We won?”

“Well, Ramuh blew up the ship, but a few air carriers got away,” Gladio said, “But I’d call that a win.”

“Sora! Donald, Goofy. You guys alright?” Noctis asked once he noticed the others were there.

“Well, you know swallowed by a whale, got out fine,” Sora said.

“Sora can do that warp-y thing now like you!” Goofy said.

“Repeat that,” Noctis said becoming fully alert.

“Riku….he’s changed. He had Pinocchio, a living puppet, in his grip and I only meant to throw the keyblade at him to make him let go of Pinocchio, but I warped with it,” Sora said.

“I know I’m not sharing magic with him so don’t even ask, Gladio,” Noctis said.

“You’re saying he warped _without_ you giving him your magic?” Prompto said.

“Is it a big deal?” Sora said.

“Yep. On our world only the Kingsglaive, who were directly tapping into the Crystal through King Regis at the time, could warp like Noctis can,” Gladio said.

“We don’t know where the Crystal ended up, and I’m not wearing the ring,” Noctis said, “I haven’t even lent these two magic since we reunited.”

“Wait, so this magic is now mine? Sweet!” Prompto said.

“Part of being out here,” Gladio said.

“Oh.”

“So, you’re saying, Sora developing this is strange?” Donald said.

“Unless he’s related to me, he shouldn’t be able to warp like me,” Noctis said, “Last I checked I’m from Eos, not the Destiny Islands.”

“And you have no other family at all? No cousins?” Goofy said.

“I have a few distant cousins,” Noctis said, “And I had a….” Noctis’s eyes widened.

_“Just like his whole life he was not destined for anything but to be a runner up to someone older than him.”_

“Had a what?” Sora asked.

“Baby brother,” Noctis said looking up at Sora. There was no way! Yet….

“You’re willingly bringing up Astris?” Gladio said.

“Astris?” Prompto said.

“Prince Astris Lucis Caelum, second son of King Regis,” Gladio said, “Kidnapped at age three. Noctis was only nine and still recovering from an attempt on his life the year before. He was powerless to stop the kidnapper from taking Astris away.”

“So, you had a baby brother. How old would he be now?” Sora asked.

“Fourteen as of March 28,” Noctis said.

“That’s my birthday—you don’t think that I’m. I have parents on the Islands. They, well they didn’t have baby pictures of me because…How could I have gotten to the Destiny Islands?” Sora said.

“Better question is, how could the people who took you have gotten to the Destiny Islands,” Gladio said, “We already know Cid found his way off world to Radiant Garden. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think your kidnappers knew a way off too.”

“You don’t know that I’m this Astris,” Sora said, “It could just be a fluke. It could be fighting with Noctis let me learn this skill.”

“That’s not how this particular type of magic works,” Noctis said.

“Is there anyway to know for sure if Sora really is your brother?” Goofy said.

“Why don’t we ask Merlin?” Donald said.

“Merlin might be able to help,” Sora said. Noctis exchanged looks between himself and the others.

“Fine, but no one else will know. It’s bad enough that Ardyn knows,” Noctis said.

“Ardyn knows?” Prompto said.

“Something he said during the fight in the Flying Fortress, it’s what even made me think about this,” Noctis said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t have a hand in it too.”

———————————————————————————————————————————

“A test to prove you two are brothers?” Merlin asked adjusting his glasses. “Let me check the books. A Hippity-hoppity-bipity! There we go. A blood test spell. It requires, oh dear, all these ingredients are hard to find.”

“Let us see,” Noctis said holding out a hand for the book. Merlin made a copy of the list.

“I have most of these from Eos,” Noctis said pulling a pen out of a coat pocket.

“Dude, why do you have a pen?” Prompto asked.

“In case Umbra shows up,” Noctis said.

“Makes sense,” Prompto said.

“Umbra?” Donald asked.

“Lady Lunafreya’s messenger dog,” Gladio said. Noctis made a mark on the parts of the list to show the items he had. He passed the list to Donald.

“We have the rest except Mystery Goo. Where do we get that?” Donald said.

“White Mushrooms,” Merlin said, “Specifically the Heartless know as White Mushrooms which are rare and hard to please but if you manage to win their game of charades they’ll give you mystery goo.”

“Any other spells here?” Noctis asked.

“Not that I can see.

“Wait a second. I know of a non-magic way to do this! Noct remember how Iggy always freaks if you get a really bad wound that bleeds a lot?” Prompto said.

“He freaks when _everyone_ bleeds a lot,” Noctis said.

“Yeah, but we don’t have unique blood types like you. You _literally_ told me in high school only you and your father could give blood to one another because of how unique your blood is,” Prompto said, “During that bio unit. There was even a brief mention of it _in_ our bio books!”

“I’m listening,” Merlin said.

“We need a, uh, tray and something to prick fingers with. Well three things to prick fingers with. Sorry, Donald and Goofy, but chances are your blood’s definitely incompatible,” Prompto said.

“Sounds good to me,” Donald said with a shudder. _Needles._

“Why only three things then?” Noctis asked.

“Gladio’s definitely a different blood type than you and it’s my experiment in the first place,” Prompto said, “So there!”

“Translation: scared of a little blood letting,” Gladio said.

“Shut it!” Prompto pointed at him. With a poof a tray with three sharp, thin needles appeared and it was portioned off. Merlin handed Prompto a needle too.

“It’d be good to know if you’re compatible with this big fellow, now wouldn’t it,” Merlin said.

“You’re right,” Prompto said. He jabbed himself and let some blood fall onto one section. Gladio followed suit and soon there were four samples separated on the floating tray.

“I need four eyedroppers,” he said. four appeared next to him in midair. Using one he sucked up some of his blood and dropped it onto a clean section between his and Gladio’s blood. Using a second he drew up some of Gladio’s blood. The reaction was instantaneous. Not compatible. using the same dropper he made another Gladio section and then a clean dropper was used to pick up some of Noctis’s blood. Another incompatible result with a slight blue shimmer to it.

“That didn’t happen in biology class,” Prompto said. The final dropper was used to move some of Sora’s blood and then he reused the second dropper to add Gladio’s blood to it and it was a similar reaction as what had previously happened between his blood and Noctis. So, Prompto motioned for Sora’s needle and drew a path between the two samples, mixing them and nothing. After the spectacular rejection reactions, nothing had happened between Sora or Noctis’s blood samples.

“Sora has the same blood type as Noctis. Ergo, he’s related to Noctis by blood,” Prompto said.

“I’m surprised at you,” Gladio said.

“That I knew all this science stuff?” Prompto nodded to Merlin who poofed it all away.

“No. That you can use “ergo” correctly in a sentence.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!”

“We’re really—.” Sora said.

“Seems that we are,” Noctis said, “It’s kind of unreal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, let me say this: I don't hate Jiminy Cricket.  
> In fact, I could easily say he's my favorite character from _Pinocchio_.  
>  However, if you took him out of _Kingdom Hearts_ I &II and replaced him with a sock puppet, would any major plot elements change so long as one of the party continued to record everything that happened?  
> Answer: **No**.  
>  Any plot point Jiminy affects can be easily smoothed over by simply having Sora, Donald, and Goofy doing the journal keeping themselves. 
> 
> Even with his higher prominence in CoM, Coded/Re:Coded, and his brief sections of quasi-importance in KH and KHII, I can still explain away his absences in KH, KHII, and KH: CoM without much effort.  
> Coded can be the same plot because in this altered universe, Jiminiy _did_ start the Journal and everyone else kept updating it, so everything within that side-game's plot could happen as usual (since Donald and Goofy would have the journal with them); practically no smoothing or fixing needed.
> 
> It was just too much stress and too many characters to keep straight in my head. Jiminy had to go.
> 
> Onto the next bit of business.
> 
> Ok, so.....I lied about why the title is in Latin.  
> In chapter one I claimed to be trying to be "artsy." Truth is, this document's title on my Mac is "Second Son of Lucis." I really didn't want to resort to a cheap trick like this but I realized titling this "Second Son of Lucis" would give away the whole thing _REALLY_ early to anyone smart enough to look closer at the title.  
>  My titles are almost never meaningless, btw. _~~Probably shouldn't have admitted that~~ _.  
>  Sorry for the deception, but I hope the reveal came off ok.


	8. Making a Splash! Adventures Under the Sea.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In their continuing quest, Noctis, Sora, Prompto, Gladio, Donald, and Goofy encounter a world that is literally underwater. With some magic to blend it, they have adventures under the sea.

“So, we meet at last.” Maleficent turned around to see Ardyn leaning against the door frame leading into the Great Hall of Hollow Bastion Castle.

“Indeed we do. It’s not often I meet one such as you,” she said, “I find the company of other immortals refreshing after being surrounded by petty mortal fools.”

“Compared to me, you’re nothing more than a mortal. You see, nothing short of a particular energy can kill me, but the right blade at the right time can get rid of _you_ ,” Ardyn said, “I really ought to kill you right now for crashing my carefully laid plans. It took me _centuries_ to get everything **_just_** right before you came in and ruined them with your mere decade of planning.”

“You speak of the maiden. I only need her alive long enough to fulfill my purpose. You may do as you wish with her after it is done with.”

“I also need you to not kill that boy,” Ardyn said.

“Oh? Why so interested in _him_? He is nothing more than a sloppy replacement the keyblade chose.”

“Because, he seems to be the universe’s backup plan, and I’d like to have one of my own. Of course, a little damage here or there isn’t a problem.”

“And to whom is he a back-up?”

“If I told you, then I’d have to kill you.”

“You dare threaten me, the **_Mistress of All Evil?_** ”

“I am not making a threat; it’s merely a statement of _fact_.”

————————————————————————————————————————————

“Did anyone ever think I was…dead?” Sora awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. A gesture he and Noctis shared.

“Most of Lucis,” Noctis said, “Even I thought it half the time. The Old Man never doubted you were alive for a second.”

“So, our….Dad never gave up on me?” Sora said.

“Never,” Noctis said.

“I wish I remembered him,” Sora said, “I sort of remembered you after Agrabah. Seeing the picture of kid you outside of the battle made me half-remember you telling me to say you were the coolest but I said—.”

“Noct coo.”

“You know what this means?” Prompto said. The brothers stared at him, “We have _two_ royals in our group now.”

“Right,” Noctis said.

“But I don’t know how to even be a prince or lead anyone,” Sora said.

“Good. Neither does Noct!” Gladio said.

“You guys are all heart there,” Noctis said.

“We’re only following your valiant example, my liege!” Prompto said putting on an affected accent.

“Iggy’s gonna lose his glasses over this,” Gladio said, “He was always of the opinion that King Regis was too optimistic about your chances of being alive after all this time. It’s going to be so much fun to show him he was wrong, for once.”

“I’m guessing Iggy’s really smart?” Sora said.

“That’s a mild way of putting it,” Noctis said.

“He’s always been intelligent; that’s why he was handpicked to be Noct’s future advisor,” Gladio said.

“I suppose then, you’re going to want to take over training Sora?” Merlin said reminding everyone he was still there. Donald and Goofy had, respectfully, backed up and let the humans talk.

“Eventually, but your less violent magic seems like a good thing to learn,” Noctis said, “Elemancy is relatively simple to pick up once shown how; its hardest part is control.”

“Seeing as Sora is a Lucii and learning this, I might be able to teach you some of this magic as well,” Merlin said tapping his chin, “After all, you have picked up a bit more of a magical aura in your travels.”

“I don’t know if we can spare that much time; Donald looks like he’s getting antsy.” Sora was right; Donald was starting to twitch, but that could have been because Goofy was bugging him with a children’s book about a bear in a red shirt.

“Then take this simple book and read it at your leisure. Any questions, contact Cid and have him pass them along to me,” Merlin said.

“Thanks,” Noctis said looking through the book. It was small enough to fit in a pocket but it must have been enchanted to save space because it had way more pages in it than there should be.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“Now I heard y’all were in a tight spot whenever you decided to ram the old girl into those troopers, so I upgraded your weapons so they won’t overheat as easily. It’s really a good thing you did ram ‘em because the tech they carried got embedded in the front bumper and I was able to salvage that for the upgrades,” Cindy said.

“Do we have proton torpedoes now?” Prompto asked.

“No. This ain’t the car you’re looking for,” Cindy said with a flat face. Noctis bit back a groan. _Great_. Now Prompto was going to be even _more_ in lust—er— _love_ with his “mechanical grease-monkey goddess.” “Keep in mind, this drains the power so, don’t over do it or she’ll be dead in the water so to speak.”

“We’ll be careful,” Noctis said.

“Meet you guys at the next world!” Sora said as he climbed in.

“Not if you eat my interspace dust first,” Noctis said.

“Are you ten or are you twenty?” Gladio asked.

“It’s ok if he can’t keep up, after all he is _old_ ,” Sora said.

“Never mind: smoke him,” Gladio said.

“Sibling rivalry, I love it!” Prompto said.

“Did I miss something?” Cindy asked.

“Turns out Sora’s Noct’s long lost little bro,” Prompto said.

“What happened to keeping it just between us and Merlin?” Noctis said.

“I can’t lie to Cindy! She’s our mechanic!” Prompto said.

“Two Princes, who’d have thought it. Now that you mention it I can see a little resemblance,” Cindy said, “But it’s a shame that gummi ship is going to lose the race.”

“Say that again!” it was a pair of talking Chipmunks and Cid glaring at Cindy.

“Sorry Chip, Dale, and Uncle Cid, but the Old Girl is better in every way,” Cindy said with a confident grin.

“You hear that Cid?” Chip crossed his arms.

“She just insulted our ship!” Dale placed his hands on his hips angrily.

“I’m sorry, but you’re wrong sugar pea. Sora, give ‘em hell!”

“So we’re doing this,” Prompto said. “The Regalia vs the Gummi ship!”

“Race starts past Agrabah to the map point we _were_ headed to until the whale and flying fortress interfered,” Sora said, “Ready to show them what we’ve got?”

“You bet!” Goofy said.

“We’re going to crush them!” Donald said.

“That’s what you three think,” Noctis said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

They were side by side, just past Agrabah waiting as Chip counting them down on the comms.

“3, 2, 1, GO!” both vehicles shot off into the starry abyss neck and neck. Heartless ships were taken care of with quick bursts of fire from both. The Regalia pulled a head a little but the gummi ship would catch up, but it was more apparent that the gummi ship only had it in short bursts. The Regalia had it for the long haul. They arrived at the safe distance with the barest of ties.

“Nice work, Sora!”

“Next time, I’m winning,” Sora said.

“In your dreams,” Noctis said.

“Um this world appears to be all ocean. We’ll drown if we go down there,” Sora said.

“Just leave it to my magic!” Donald said before the comm from the gummi ship cut off.

“That’s great for them, but what about us?” Prompto said. Noctis thought for a few moments before he pulled out the spell book Merlin had given him. He found a table of contents and then flipped through the pages.

“Spells to blend in with,” he read a loud. “Basically, some worlds gave off vibes that let the visitors know when or when not to blend in.”

“Huh, I wonder if Donald and Goofy ever visit Eos, if they’d blend in or stick out like usual?” Prompto said.

“Who knows. Can you do it, Noct?” Gladio said.

“I think I can. It’s put in Prompto proof terms—.”

“Hey!”

“Face it: if it’s not technology, you’re hopeless. Anyway, so I should be able to cast this spell,” Noctis said. He focused on the magic he felt when warping and on the words on the page and the world below.

———————————————————————————————————————————

The fish swam past overhead as Sora looked up from under the surface of the ocean. He’d done this in the past on the Islands but this time he needn’t fear drowning. His bottom half was a dolphin. A bottlenose if he was right. Donald was an octopus from the waist down and Goofy’s head was on a sea turtle’s body.

“Are we late?” Prompto’s bottom half was a very colorful fish. The main color was orange with nearly glowing turqoise blue stripes and circles and his fluke was a more reddish orange with faint royal blue veins and a royal blue edge. Gladio’s was a killer whale and Noctis also appeared to be a dolphin, but unlike the gray and white Sora’s tail was, his was black with the white swirling up into it.

“Your hair!” Sora said holding back a few snickers. Noctis ran a hand over his spikes to find they were gone in the ocean. Prompto was having a panic because his hair had also been affected by the water.

“No! Not my ‘doo! Why are his spikes intact and mine aren’t!” Prompto said.

“Well, on the Islands we have this thing called “waterproof hair spray,”” Sora said.

“No. Fair!”

“Such a peacock,” Gladio snorted, “Let’s see if we can _move_ in these forms before we spend all day talking about hair care tips.”

“Good idea,” Donald said. Of everyone, Donald had the most problems, but then again he had eight legs to contend with. Prompto, despite his moaning about his hair, had the most ease at swimming in his mer-form.

“Come on, Sebastian!”

“Don’t leave me behind, Ariel!”The voices were coming from an honest to goodness mermaid being followed by a blue and yellow flounder and a red crab. The crab went face to face with Donald who glared at him making the poor thing yell and duck behind the redheaded mermaid.

“Relax, Sebastian. They don’t look like they’re one of _them_ , do they Flounder?”

“I don’t know. They’re something strange about them.” The six exchange looks and Sora laughs nervously,

“Wh-what do you mean?” Ariel swam around everyone,

“Well, they do seem a little different. Where are all of you from?” she asked.

“A, uh long way from here,” Noctis said.

“Yeah, we’re not used to these, uh, waters,” Sora said.

“Sebastian!” Ariel was pointing out into the open ocean where a heartless jellyfish was swimming in from.

“We’ll handle this,” Sora said. Ariel hid with Sebastian and Flounder in a giant clamshell, the others hadn’t noticed.Noctis warped to the heartless only to find his warp didn’t quite hit the mark. Water was distorting his path!He slashed the jelly fish a few more times and it dissolved into more of them. It was awkward and there were a few close calls.

“Watch your aim, Prompto!”

“My bad!”

“Sora!”

“Sorry, Donald!”

The heartless were finished off. Sora, now having gotten a much better grip on swimming thanks to fighting carefully made his way down and knocked on the shell.

“It’s ok now!” he said.

“Thank you! I’m Ariel. These are Sebastian and Flounder,” Ariel said.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Sora. That’s Donald. That’s Goofy. That’s Noctis, Gladio, and—.”

“Hello, I’m Prompto, pleased to meet you.” Prompto had managed to swim up smoothly and kiss one of Ariel’s hands.

“Err. Thanks,” Ariel said pulling her hand out gently. Prompto backed away and Noctis and Gladio were already doing an in tandem face palm.

“Don’t tell Cindy,” Prompto said.

“Wasn’t planning on it!” they said at the same time.

“Are you two alright?” Ariel asked.

“Just our usual reaction to our friend,” Noctis said.

“Oh-no! Those things are headed to the palace, come on!” Ariel took off.

“We should probably follow her,” Sora said.

“Isn’t that muddling?” Goofy tapped a flipper to his mouth.

“ _Meddling_!” Donald said.

“Well, if the heartless are causing it, shouldn’t we do something?” Noctis said.

“He’s got a point,” Goofy said.

“Sora’s already gone!” Prompto said. Noctis took off after Sora which had the others following suit.

———————————————————————————————————————————

It was an amazing underwater palace. It looked partly organic and partly manmade. It blended in perfectly. From above, Noctis was willing to be it looked like a giant coral reef. Sora was closing in on one of the monsters whenever lighting obliterated it. Sora drew back and Ariel kept going forwards.

“Daddy!” The man who had create the lightning was wearing a crown and wielding a glowing trident. Wait, “daddy” so…

“I thought I told you it was too dangerous to go outside the palace, Ariel!”

“I’m sorry, Daddy.”

“I’m just worried for you. Strange creatures lurk outside the palace.” Triton had finally noticed the newcomers. Sebastian took up a place between Ariel’s father and the outsiders.

“Behold, you swim before the ruler of the seven seas: His Majesty, King Triton!” Noctis did a slightly awkward underwater bow, which Prompto and Gladio copied. Sora tried but it nearly sent him end over end. Donald and Goofy had better success.

“Who are they?” King Triton asked.

“They helped us fight off those creatures,” Ariel said.

“They don’t look familiar.”

“We’re from an ocean far away,” Sora said. Noctis’s poker face nearly cracked. Sora was a worse liar than he was.

“Yep! We came to find the keyhole!”

“The _what_?” Triton said.

“Goofy!” the others yelled.

“What’s a keyhole?” Ariel said.

“It’s a—.”

“Goofy!” Donald snapped.

“There’s no such thing around here!” King Triton said.

“But Daddy…”

“Ariel, you are not to leave the palace, am I clear?” Ariel swam off clearly upset. Sora looked back at Triton and swam after her with Donald and Goofy. Noctis followed after a few moments with Gladio and Prompto flanking him.

“Looked like you were going to ask him about something?” Prompto said.

“I was, but it didn’t seem like the right moment to bring it up,” Noctis said.

“Bring what up?” Sora asked.

“The Crystal,” Noctis said.

“I’m sure if it’s here, it’ll turn up,” Sora said. They found Ariel sitting on a rock playing with an underwater flower.

“Hey, you guys mind if I show you something?”

“Go ahead!” Sora said. Ariel leads them to a rock which she shoved to the side revealing a grotto. It was filled to the brim with stuff that looked to be from a human world. On one side of the grotto there was an indentation in the shape of a trident.

“Isn’t this all neat? I collected it from shipwrecks,” she said.

“It’s really something else,” Prompto said looking at the collection of corkscrews before putting them down.

“My Daddy insists on treating me like a little girl but I’m sixteen! I want to explore other worlds and see new things someday!” Ariel said.

“I used to feel the same way,” Sora said.

“Used to?” Ariel asked.

“I, uh, still do,” Sora said catching himself.

“Then why don't we look for that keyhole,” Ariel said.

“But—.”

“I know, we could start at the old ship wreck!” Ariel said dragging Sora after her. Noctis followed with Donald and Goofy not that far behind him. Gladio and Prompto were left playing catch up. The ship was impressive. Wrecked but impressive.

“I think if any place had a clue it’d be this!” Ariel said, “If not, it should have some good treasures!” Noctis couldn’t fault her logic there and dove into the ship following her green fins.

“It’s dark in here,” Prompto whined, “Don’t you have a glowing sword?”

“A glowing sword.”

“Well one of your royal arms does glow,” Gladio said.

“I can hear it now, Iggy would be horrified that a royal weapon would be reduced to a glow stick,” Noctis said.

“What’s this about weapons?” Ariel said popping back out into a more well lit area.

“It’s a treasure hunt of our own. You wouldn’t have happened to have seen any new strange items like a giant crystal or something like this,” Prompto had his camera out underwater.

“That thing’s waterproof?” Noctis said.

“Of course! Ok like this,” Prompto had a picture of a royal tomb displayed.

“No,” Ariel said, “I think I’d remember something like that. What is this?”

“A camera. It takes pictures,” Prompto said stashing it back into subspace.

“Shark!” Flounder yelled. A large great white came crashing in after him. Sora smacked it hard on the nose with his keyblade sending the shark running. Everyone stared at him.

“Where I grew up, we had to know how to do that,” Sora said with a shrug.

“So, hitting a shark on the nose hard enough will send them running? I’ll have to tell Daddy!” Ariel said, “I didn’t find anything about the keyhole but look at this!” She showed then a small chest with a crystal trident in it, “The shape reminds me of something other than Daddy’s trident but I can’t think of it just now. It’s pretty, though.”

“Even though I drove him off, he might be back, so we’d better get out of here,” Sora said.

“Sora Shark-Puncher brother of Noct Gar, Legend!” Prompto said.

“Noct Gar?” Sora said. Any eyebrow was quirked.

“Long story short, Noct is bad at making up names on the spot,” Gladio said.

“Like you’d be any better!” Noctis said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“Oh it fits perfectly!” Ariel said once she stuck the crystal trident in the indent. It looked sort of nice.

“Ariel! I told you not to leave the palace!” King Triton had arrived, “You’ve disobeyed me again!”

“Daddy I—.” King Triton’s eyes clouded over with rage whenever he saw the crystal trident. Without warning his aimed his own trident at it and blasted it to smithereens.

“Daddy, how could you!” Ariel swam away in tears. Before anyone could follow her King Triton’s attention was on Sora.

“Young man, you’re not from another ocean. You’re from another world, aren’t you?”

“Huh?” Sora said. Noctis suppressed a sigh. It’s not like Sora or Goofy were subtle this time.

“You must be the keybearer then.”

“How did you know?” Sora asked.

“Aside from the fact none of you seem to know your dorsal fins from your tails? You might fool Ariel but you can’t fool me,” King Triton said.

“Fair enough, but how did you know he was the keybearer and it wasn’t one of us?” Prompto said.

“I saw him summon the keyblade,” King Triton said. “As a keybearer, he ought to know that one is not to meddle in the affairs of other worlds. Something he has violated along with all of you traveling with him! The keyblade does nothing except shatter peace and bring ruin!”

“Sora’s not like that!” Goofy said.

“We’re seeking to undo the effects of meddling, You Majesty, so we didn’t mean to cause more problems,” Noctis said.

“I thank you for saving my daughter, but I have no room in my ocean for that key or the keybearer!” King Triton said. Noctis tensed up but Gladio held him back with a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s just a jerk,” Prompto said.

“But we are meddling,” Sora said.

“To undo the interference of the heartless,” Gladio said, “Noctis is right, we’re not here to cause more problems. We’re here to fix those problems being caused by the heartless.”

“You need to come quick! The sea witch has Ariel and the trident!” Sebastian said swimming into the grotto.

“Sea witch?” Goofy said.

“Ursula! King Triton banished her, but she is behind all of these heartless!” Sebastian said.

“Let’s go!” Sora said.

“We’ll be fine, get back,” Noctis said.

“Do you even know the way?” Sebastian said. The group stopped. The crab had a point.

“Lead the way,” Sora said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“As promised, I’ll send you to another world alright, **_Oblivion_**!” Ursula said aiming the trident at Ariel. Sora warped to Ariel slashing at Flotsam and Jetsam making the eels let her go. The blast missed and nearly fried her minions. Shesnarled at them she moved to cast a spell with the cauldron.

“Don’t let her use that thing, or we’ll all be in a world of pain!” Sebastian warned.

“Everyone, get clear,” Noctis said pulling out a Thundara orb. He chucked it into the cauldron causing it to explode sending Ursula into a wall of her undersea lair. They got clear of it.

“Ariel, are you alright?” Sora asked.

“How’d she get that trident?” Goofy said.

“It’s all my fault. She told me all of you were from another world, so she promised to take me there if I got her Daddy’s trident and she attacked Daddy,” Ariel said, “Oh no!” Emerging from her lair was a now giant Ursula.

“Ugh, as if she wasn’t big enough before,” Gladio said.

“Makes her a better target,” Prompto said after a moment. Noctis nodded. He had a few flashbacks to Leviathan and—.

“Don’t get too close to me, I’m summoning the Armiger!” Noctis said.

“Gotcha!” Goofy said.

“Alright!” Sora said. Noctis called the arms forth and warped forwards attacking her with the weapons drawing her full focus on him. Sora and the others joined in attacking her. She lashed out with her tentacles and the trident at everyone. Noctis was sent tumbling through the waters and he fought to right himself. He grabbed onto Prompto’s arm and Sora’s keeping them from going farther back.

“We need to get that trident away from her,” Sora said.

“Attack her hands, got it!” Prompto summoned his guns and aimed at her hands from a far. The shots made her flinch and drop the magic weapon. Sora and Noctis warped back at her attacking her and sending her back into a nearby undersea cliff. Donald, Goofy, and Gladio combined their attacks against her making the cliff shatter and burry her in the boulders. A dark miss rose up and the boulders shifted. It appeared she was gone. Ariel had the trident in her hands.

“I’ll return this to my Daddy now,” she said.

“We’ll go with you,” Sora said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“Daddy, I’m so sorry,” Ariel said handing the trident back to her father.

“Please don’t be too angry at her,” Sora said.

“It’s my fault. You only went to Ursula because she offered you your heart’s desire after I denied them to you,” King Triton said. “And when you found that crystal, I lost my temper.”

“Why did you destroy it?” Goofy asked.

“It has the power to reveal the keyhole. A keyhole is a dangerous and I didn’t want you to be exposed to it.” King Triton said.

“Daddy….”Ariel said.

“Keybearer, I’d like to request that you seal the keyhole of this world. My trident also holds the power to reveal the keyhole,” King Triton said.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Sora said, “That’s what we wanted to do from the start.”

“Where is the keyhole?” Ariel said.

“You should know better than anyone. It’s in your grotto,” King Triton said.

“Really?” everyone said.

“Sora, let’s go!” Goofy said. Ariel, Donald, Goofy, Sora, Prompto, and Gladio swam ahead of Noctis and King Trition.

“I have something to ask you, your majesty,” Noctis said.

“Of course,” King Triton said.

“Have you seen a large crystal. It’s a bit bigger than a merperson and it would be slightly chipped and glowing blue or have you heard any reports of it showing up here?” Noctis said.

“I’m afraid not,” King Triton said.

“Thank you for your time,” Noctis said bowing his head.

“You’re not an ordinary traveler, are you?” King Triton.

“I don’t think any of us are ordinary,” Noctis said. He joined them as King Triton revealed the keyhole. Sora locked it.

“Sora, tell me what’s your world like?” Ariel asked.

“Oh, sorry about lying to you earlier,” Sora said.

“It’s ok. Because, if you can travel worlds someday I can too. There are so many places I want to see. I’ll find a way somehow, someday. I’m sure of it,” she said.

“When you do, do me a favor and leave me out of it!” Sebastian said. Everyone laughed at him.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“I got some great underwater pics from that adventure!” Prompto said once they were back to their land forms in the Regalia. They were dry, thanks to magic, and Prompto held up the camera and there was a shot of the three of them in mer form Prompto had shot as a group selfie. The next couple were of each member of the group alone.

“I’m definitely showing this to Luna,” Prompto said.

“Don’t you dare!” Noctis said.

“But you look so cute as a merman!” Prompto said.

“Yeah, you’re shirt’s off and your nonexistent muscles actually look good,” Gladio said.

“Function over form,” Noctis said.

“What function? Sleeping?” Prompto said.

“At least I have more muscles than you,” Noctis said.

“That’s cold, buddy, real cold,” Prompto said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Atlantica! A frustrating world to play and don't get me started on the music.  
> Fake sounding brass is fake.  
> Still, a fun chapter to write.  
> Noctis's Atlatica form inspiration:   
>    
> It's a dusky dolphin and they're known for breeching _really_ high.  
>  They're also known for their acrobatics. With Noctis and his warping (and air stepping should that ability be unlocked) it made sense to me.  
> Prompto:   
>    
> It's called a Mandarin fish. The bright colors made me think Prompto.  
> Gladio is just a killer whale. I'm sure a lot of you know what those look like :D
> 
> The remark about the hair spray was my own justification for Sora's spikes staying intact where Noctis and Prompto's hair styles both seem to react to weather and wetness. 
> 
> This is going to be one of those rare times where my author's notes between sites will be different. Mostly because FF. Net cannot link.
> 
> Anyway, I should probably warn people my school is back in session.  
> I'm a **Doctoral Student** working on a Phd in English. My studies will always come first. That being said, I will try to keep to my every other week update schedule but if school demands my time more than this, school will win out. Period.
> 
> **Fun fact** : The Maleficent and Ardyn interaction was one of the first scenes I wrote for this cross-over.
> 
> By the way: The overriding ideas that inspired me to write this cross-over in this manner in the _first place_ was "What if Xehanort was 100% wrong on Sora being common **OR** ordinary?" and Nomura's comments of Noctis's design being sort of a negative to Sora.
> 
> Once that cross-over idea was planted, it didn't take me long to realize that there is no way in HELL that Ardyn would work with either Xehanort or Maleficent because their plans will derail his BIG time.
> 
> Sure, I could have still done a paint-by-numbers cross-over, but those **bore me**. That, among other reasons, is why I haven't been able to finish the last part of _Bolt Out of the Blue._


	9. Everybody Scream! In this Town of Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After making a splash, the group moves on to a new world with a rather... _spooky_ vibe. In a world full of screams, and ghoulish imagery there awaits something or rather _someone_ very familiar.

"This world is giving off the same vibes as Atlantica but it doesn't look as dangerous to us," Noctis said.

"Better blend in just in case," Gladio said.

"I wonder what we'll be this time!" Prompto said.

"Hopefully something that's not lame," Gladio said.

"Merpeople aren't lame!" Prompto said.

"Enough! Let's just get this over with," Noctis said. This time when he cast the magic, it felt much weirder; it even hurt a little.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Sora flapped his puny wings a little and shrugged. The mask was weird and his fangs had already pricked his own lips.

"If you don't quit laughing, I'll use you for a  _ **scratching post.**_ " The voice was slightly altered but it was Noctis.  _Wonder what-whoa!_

Gladio strolled into view, his hair was bushier and wilder, his skin was bright red, he had large tusk fangs jutting up from his jaw and a pair of pointy horns on his head. He was wearing only a tiger skin skirt. Prompto looked like a living rag doll, and for some reason his right arm had a huge barcode patch on it. His hair was made of yarn and he had stitches making his mouth look like it was in a permanent a wide grin. That meant the snarling midnight-black werewolf wearing Noctis' clothes  _was_  Noctis. His eyes were still the same dark blue they'd always been, but set in a snarling wolf face and nearly obscured by a shaggy black mane of fur.

"He's really pissed because he fell on his face and it revealed that he has a tail," Gladio said. Noctis snarled again before crossing his arms. Sora could see the tail, now that he looked, lashing from side-to-side.

"What are you supposed to be?" Goofy asked. It was pretty clear that Goofy had been turned into a version of Frankenstein's Monster. Donald was a mummy. Sora supposed he himself was some sort of vampire.

"I'm a red oni," Gladio said gesturing a now clawed thumb at himself, "They're from folk lore of a distant land to Lucis that was pretty popular whenever Noct and I were little because of a few animated cartoons."

"So your world had anime too?" Sora said.

"Ha!  _Told_  you it's anime!" Prompto said, "You're one weird looking vampire."

"Let's just go see what's going on here," Sora said marching on ahead of everyone else.

"Though, this place sure is spooky. I bet the people who live here are pretty scary looking," Goofy said as they kept up with Sora.

"So? We're pretty scary looking ourselves," Donald said.

"You guys haven't seen scary until you've gotten between Galdio and the last Cup Noodles: believe me," Prompto said.

The square was empty until there was an explosion. Everyone looked over at it until Donald squawked.

"Heartless!" Sora said. They didn't attack. In fact they didn't even seem to  _notice_  Sora and the others.

"May I present the master of terror, the king of nightmares, your pumpkin king, Jack Skellington!" A skeleton wearing a pinstriped suit appeared out of the fountain as the search ghost heartless cleared to give him way. The speaker was a short fat man wearing a top hat. There was something.... _fake_  about his face.

"Bravo Jack! This will be the scariest Halloween yet, you've done it again! These ghosts were a malevolent idea!"

"Thank you, Mayor, but I still need to do some work. Their movements aren't scary enough. I need them to strike bone-chilling terror!" Jack's pose worked too well because it scared the Mayor. "I'm going to consult the Doctor."

"I'll attend to the decorations!" The Mayor said. With a choice between seeing what this "doctor" was up to and what the Mayor was doing, the group unanimously decided to follow Jack. If the skeleton man noticed, or cared, he didn't show it either way.

———————————————————————————————————————————

It looked like a stereotypical mad-scientist laboratory, complete with a creature on the examination table, though it was heartless. Same type as the ones outside. The "doctor" was some sort of strange creature that looked like a cross between a Frankenstein monster and a goblin; all pale white except his black goggles and gloves. He was wheel chair bound. A sign in the corner gave away that his name was "Dr. Finklestein."

"I don't understand. Maybe the guidance system was damaged in the explosion," Jack said.

"Nonsense! My designs are perfect!"

"Oh, I've got it! The Heartless need a heart. Doctor, do you think we can add a heart to the device?" Jack said. Dr. Finkelstein scoffed,

"Certainly. A heart's not all that complicated. Let's get to work." Jack looked at the book.

"First we need a container with a lock," Jack read. Dr. Finkelstein wheeled around a came back to his table with a locked container shaped like a human heart. Why he had such a thing, no one wanted to know. It even  _moved_  like a heart.

"We need the key to this thing first!" Dr. Finklestein said. Sora moved forwards.

"You're really gonna unlock it for them?" Donald said.

"Why not? If they succeed, we won't have to fight any more heartless, right?" Sora looked at the others who just sort of shrugged. Sora summoned his keyblade and aimed it at the lock. A simple lock was nothing for the power of the keyblade; it popped open.

"My! The was amazing. Uh, and you are….?" Jack said.

"Sora."

"Well done, Sora! I'd like you to be part of this year's Halloween!" Jack said.

"What's this heartlesss doing here?" Sora asked.

"Oh, the heartless came to town just recently. What's frustrating is I can't get them to dance with me. So, the Doctor and I are trying to improve the guidance system. He's quite a genius! Ok, let's continue! The ingredients for a heart: Pulse." a pulsing frog was placed next to the heart. "Emotion." Dr. Finkelstein placed a large spider on the table, which made Prompto squeak a little,

"Terror," he said.

"Fear," Jack said. Dr. Finklestein made an eerie noise.

"Hope and despair," this time he brought out a pair of snakes eating one another's tails.

"Mix them all together and we have a heart!" Jack exclaimed. Dr. Finklestein mixed everything together and placed the heart in the machine. It made the heartless sit up for a moment right before it fell limp again.

"It failed!" Dr. Finklestein slammed his fist on the arm of his wheel chair, "Maybe we're missing some ingredients. Let's try adding memory."

Prompto had to fight back a gag whenever the mad scientist lifted up part of his own skull began to  _literally_  scratch his own brain. Noctis shuddered but Gladio was unfazed. That was more than could be said for Donald and Goofy who were turning a little green. "Sally.  ** _Sally_**! Good-for-nothing girl! I don't know why I bothered creating her! She's got the memory we need. See if you can find her." Dr. Finkletstein growled.

"No problem! Sora, would you like to come with me?" Jack asked.

"Sure," Sora said. Jack finally seemed to notice the others.

"Who are you delightfully frightful friends?"

"I'm Donald."

"Goofy."

"Gladio."

"Prompto."

"Noctis."

"Say! You three must be Iggy's friends! He's probably out in the Square by now. He's been looking for a way to find you three for the whole time he's been here," Jack said.

They exited the lab to see the Mayor's face was now different. A literal two-faced politician. Would you look at that.

"Jack! The heartless are out of control!" The Mayor said.

"Hmm, maybe our experiment triggered something. Everything will be fine, Mayor. You have nothing to worry about," Jack said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

The heartless were going berserk and attacking the common Halloween Town folk; stereotypical witches were trying to fly away, and there were vampires shooing off attacks, and even a werewolf being harassed. Off to the corner was a stone colored gargoyle with large wings, pointy bat ears, and a long tail wearing a tailored white shirt and sharp pants despite the extra limbs. The glasses and spiked light brown hair gave away the rest of the gargoyle's identity.

"Iggy!" Gladio said. Ignis looked over at them. He blinked a few times.

"I've not finally been driven mad, have I?" Ignis asked throwing a dagger at a heartless destroying it. Noctis warped over to Ignis killing another heartless.

"Not yet," he said, "But I think a few more days and I'm sure you would be."

"Highness? I suppose the form  _does_  make a sort of sense," Ignis said. The duo nodded to one another before they used spears against a nearby search ghost. Prompto and Gladio worked well enough together while Sora, Donald, and Goofy worked as a fairly decent team. Noctis rejoined the center with Ignis and the heartless were purged before one could say "triskaidekaphobia."

"This isn't how I imagined we'd all meet again," Ignis said.

"Don't sweat it, we're not like this permanently," Prompto, "Just for now!"

"Did you just wake up like this or did someone help you with this?" Noctis asked gesturing at Ignis's altered form.

"I saw how much I stuck out and was struck with a desire to fit in, and so, I snuck into the town and found a curious book in what seems to pass for their library. It had an incantation in it that worked," Ignis said, "Who are your friends?"

"Why this here's Sora, who can unlock things with his key-sword, Donald, and Goofy along with the friends you've been looking for!" Jack said. Ignis nodded.

"We'll do better introductions when things are less  _crazy_ ," Noctis said.

"Key-sword. Sounds an awful lot like the video game Prompto is often going on about," Ignis said.

"I know, right!" Prompto yelled.

"Have you seen Sally, Iggy?" Jack asked.

"I believe I saw her slipping off to the graveyard," Ignis said, "I'll accompany you all."

"Sounds great!" Jack said he eagerly strode off leaving everyone to follow.

"Excitable," Gladio said.

"He's really very passionate about Halloween," Ignis said blandly.

"It's nice to finally meet the last of Noctis's friends," Goofy said.

"I trust they've been saying good things," Ignis said.

"Just that you're the smart one," Sora said, "And would disprove of using a royal arm as a glow stick."

"I would indeed," Ignis said; he looked directly at Prompto who chuckled nervously.

"Gawrsh, how did you know it was Prompto?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah, we didn't even say who suggested it!" Donald said.

"Because a suggestion like that is  _always_  Prompto's," Ignis said.

"Not always: sometimes Noct can be just as bad," Gladio said.

"Yes, but he knows better than to use his family's heirlooms in such a disrespectful fashion, or rather I should hope he knows better than that," Ignis said.

"He's got me there," Noctis said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

They arrived at the graveyard to find it chocked full of heartless. More search ghosts but now there were gargoyle heartless and mummy heartless too along with a few standard shadows.

“Spread out and take them down. Watch out for the mummy looking Wite Knights, they can move more rapidly than you think!” Ignis yelled.

“Thanks!” Sora said before he barely blocked a rapid set of slashes from one of the wite knights with the keyblade. He dodge-rolled around it and landed a few hits to its back destroying it. Noctis was working with Ignis and both were using spears to take on the gargoyles. Gladio’s greatsword was working pretty well with Goofy’s shield work. In fact, Gladio summoned his own shield and did a bash against a gargoyle with Goofy landing the attack on the other side. Donald and Sora kept the shadows off each others’ backs while Sora was mostly dealing with the heartless nearest himself. A hit sent him back a few feet.

“Sora!” Noctis threw him something. It was glowing green. “Crush it!” Sora did and realized it had been an elixir! He was fully energized and ready to keep going. Sora also noticed the guys using these from time to time. The last heartless was vanquished and Jack was looking behind a particular tombstone.

“There you are, Sally. We’ve been looking for you. Dr. Finklestein says you have the memory we need,” Jack said.

“Memory? Oh you mean this?” Sally pulled out a small bunch of forget-met-nots.

“Perfect. Thank you, Sally! To the Lab!” Jack strode off leaving most of the others scrambling to keep up. Sora noticed how Sally was hanging back.

“You should join us. It’s not safe here,” Sora said.

“I understand, but I fear that this isn’t going to end well for Jack. Why not ask him if you and your friends could star in the show? You’re all very frightening looking and you’re better than Heartless,” Sally said.

“Jack seems to have his heart set on heartless,” Sora said. Sally sighed.

“Please make sure that he’s safe no matter what, because I…because I worry for him,” Sally said.

“I’ll do my best,” Sora said.

“Thank you.” Sally followed Sora to the lab.

“Now all we need is some surprise,” Dr. Finklestein said.

“Where can we find that, Doctor?” Jack asked.

“Hmm, consult the Mayor. He was going on about getting a wonderfully terrible surprise the other day,” Dr. Finklestein said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

"A surprise?" the two faced Mayor scratched his chin, or what passed for his chin, "Oh! Dr. Finklestein was talking about the Moonlight Hill cemetery. I ran into a group of ghosts there and they challenged me to a game. I had to hit the tomb stones in the order they appeared to get a prize, but I had too much to do."

"Then we must go there too!" Jack said pounding a bony fist into a bony palm. They followed him to the cemetery to another side where a platform took them to another part of the cemetery; there was a large hill present. Hence, Moonlight Hill Cemetery, Noctis supposed.

"There they are!" Sora said. He charged forwards, eager to play. He smacked the headstones in the wrong order by accident and he was blown back a few feet.

"Are you alright?" Ignis asked.

"Been through worse," Sora said getting up and dusting himself off. He followed the directions correctly this time and a pumpkin exploded instead of him, revealing a chest. The group gathered around as Sora opened the chest to reveal a jack-in-the-box.

"That's definitely a surprise," Ignis said.

"Let's get this back to the Doctor!" Jack said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

They arrived back at the lab where Dr. Finklestein was waiting.

"This is it," He said taking the jack-in-the-box and adding it to the other ingredients. Before he could do anything a sudden movement caused the group to turn and look one way as a crash was heard. Everyone turned back to see Lock making away with the heart and Dr. Finkelstein had been knocked out of his chair.

"The nerve of those little hooligans stealing my work!" he yelled. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack helped Dr. Finklestein back into his chair while Prompto, Ignis, Gladio, and Noctis gave chase after the brats. Sora ran to catch up to the guys to find them in the square.

"They gave us the slip through some small crack," Noctis said.

"Couldn't you just track them?" Jack said. Noctis looked at him oddly before he remembered he was currently a werewolf. Before he had to attempt tracking the kids, Zero showed up.

"Do you know where they went?" Jack said. Zero barked and nodded his head before taking off.

"So, who are those kids?" Prompto asked.

"Lock, Shock, and Barrel. A Trio of Trick-or-Treaters overly fond of trickery," Ignis said.

"Couldn't put it better myself, Iggy!" Jack said as they ran. They followed the spectral dog to Moonlight Hill where they were in time to witness Lock, Shock, and Barrel riding in a walking bathtub activate a notch and the hill uncurled and became a bridge across a gap. Jack wasted no time in following the children across leaving Sora, Noctis, Donald, Goofy, Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio to scramble after him. Heartless attempted to bar their path further but it didn't work. The team of eight made short work of them.

"Oogie Boogie's manor. I knew he was behind this!" Jack said pointing a skeletal hand at the twisted house ahead of them. Noctis's enhanced hearing picked up something that made his hackles rise.

"You're going to have to go on without us," Noctis said.

"What is it?" Sora asked.

"Enemies from Eos," Noctis snarled looking up. Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis looked up to see an air carrier making its way towards a nearby clearing.

"We'll take care of this and catch up when we can," Noctis said.

"Alright," Sora said before he followed Jack to the twisted building. Noctis and the others ran below the house and waited for the air carrier to land. A second one joined it and soon two platoons off MT's as well as a mobile armor and Ardyn stood before the, Ardyn looked exactly the same, but to Nocti's altered form, he smelled inhuman, making his hackles rise again.

"My, my, this is a good look for you, Your Majesty," Ardyn said bowing at the waist, "A vast improvement. And you, why you look like you were sewn together quite hastily. Quite the disappointing creation." Prompto drew his guns and aimed them at Ardyn. "Oh, didn't you tell your friends about the truth yet? Dear me, I seem to have become a blabbermouth."

"Quit toying with us and attack already!" Gladio swung his sword at Ardyn, causing the man to merely side-step away from the attempt.

"Why, that was quite rude, and after all we've been through together," Ardyn said.

"Are you going to try to kill us or are you here to waste our time," Ignis pointed a summoned dagger at Ardyn.

"Kill you? Now what would ever make you think that," Ardyn said.

"The two dozen MT's and the Mobile Armor," Noctis said flatly.

"Consider this a test, and if you finish in time, you'll get a prize!" Ardyn said before he stepped back. This seemed to be the signal the MT's needed to press their attack forwards. Noctis nodded to the others before he warped forwards and focused his assault on the armor. He rolled away from its stomps and dodging sprays of bullets, but the troops were MT Assassins, and therefore a huge pain in the ass, nearly literally. Fortunately a well timed dodge-roll spared him that indignity, but a blade did find its way into his tail, making him yelp like a dog. Prompto, who was nearby, snickered.

"Not a word," Noctis growled. The MT's backed off once the Armor was down but also because a third ship arrived. They loaded up as it dropped a crate down, a la the Marilith they'd unleashed on the guys before.

"Now for a special treat," Ardyn said from his perch up on a wall nearby. An explosion rocked the ground causing Noctis, Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio to turn and look to see the mansion was covered in sack-cloth and glowing black orbs. What? Sora, Jack, Donald, and Goofy were ok and were attacking the now living building and the orbs of darkness.

"Better pay attention to this, or you might lose your heads!" The box exploded open to reveal a massive Reaper, at least three times the average size. It smelled of death and dust.

"Let's do this," Noctis said narrowing his eyes at the daemon.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Sora couldn't believe the battle so far. First, there was Oogie Boogie himself, a giant walking-talking sack of  _something_. Then there was his giant roulette wheel, but Sora could warp now, so his cowardly tactics didn't work for long, which ended with him summoning more and more darkness before the whole mansion began to shake and now Oogie Boogie was part of his mansion. It was kind of gross.

"He's drawing power from those orbs of darkness!" Jack said.

"Then let's take them out!" Sora said charing into action. More heartless appeared and the Oogie Boogie House fusion could move. Sora was going to have nightmares from this for  _weeks_. The one section caught on fire and was used as a fiery flail to attack Sora and the others.

"Split up to cover more ground and take out more of the orbs faster!" Jack said. Sora nodded to Donald and Goofy. Sora headed up the stairs attacking as many orbs as he could find while he ascended.

"Tell me, have either of you figured it out yet, or are you both still wearing blinders?" Sora looked up at an oddly dressed man wearing a fedora. His hair was a magenta-purple color. He was leaning on against the house in front of Sora as if it  _weren't_ a possessed monstrosity.

"Do I know you?" Sora asked dodging past him to attack another orb. He heard a scuttling and before a wite knight could jump him, it was destroyed by a quick sword swing from Ardyn, who'd summoned a red sword out of no where. Considering Sora ran around wielding a giant key sword, he didn't see this as particularly odd.

"We haven't been formally introduced before now, but I know your older brother. I'd even go so far as to call us acquaintances. I am Chancellor Ardyn Izunia." Sora ignored him to focus on more of the orbs.

"Now, now, Astris, no need to be rude!" Sora froze; after a moment, he turned his head and stared directly into Ardyn's eyes.

" ** _How did you know that name_**?" Sora demanded.

"That is a question for another time," Ardyn bowed to Sora, before he leapt off the Oogie-Boogie-Mansion-Hybrid. He landed on top of a rising air carrier and rode it away. Sora had more important matters to tend to, like the final orb. Once it was done, the mansion quivered forcing everyone to abandon ship. Sora warped down in time to see Noctis, Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis finish off….the  _Grim Reaper_? It faded into dark smoke just as the mansion became dust. A glowing keyhole was in its place. Sora knew what to do. He aimed the keyblade at it locking it. The dust settled and everything was calm again.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“I should have listened to you Sally. You were right all along,” Jack was sitting in a chair in Dr. Finklestein’s lab as Sally comforted him.

“It’s alright, Jack. We’ll come up with another plan for Halloween. We’ll do it together.” They held hands and looked into each other’s eyes.

“We have no choice but to cancel the heartless festival,” Jack said once he let go of her hands. He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a key chain.

“I want you to have this, Sora,” Jack said placing it in his hand.

“Thanks,” Sora said.

“Visit us any time you like! Next year will be the scariest Halloween yet!”

———————————————————————————————————————————

“That adventure was odd, to say the least, but now it is nearly over,” Ignis said as they walked out of the town.

“This weird man showed up while we were facing Oogie Boogie. Said he knew you guys, had weird purple hair,” Sora said.

“Ardyn Izunia, High Chancellor of the Niflheim Empire,” Ignis said.

“Niflheim’s our enemy,” Gladio said.

“Oh,” Sora said.

“What did he want?” Noctis said.

“He was just odd and annoying,” Sora said.

“He _excels_ at that,” Ignis said, “How is it we’re getting off this world?”

“Right this way!” Prompto said bounding ahead of everyone.

Sora fell behind, which prompted Noctis to slow down too.

“What is it?”

“He knew my name. My _birth_ name,” Sora said.

“I figured he did. He seems to know a lot about everything,” Noctis said.

“That’s _so_ annoying,” Sora said.

“Get used to it,” Noctis said messing with Sora’s hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the risk of pissing people off I'm just going to say it: this was my SECOND least favorite world in KH 1.  
>  _*ducks thrown vegetables and fruit*_  
>  The layout was a headache at times and the music was just BLAH. Not as bad as the tinny-fake brassiness of Atlantica, but still pretty irritating. 
> 
> As for why Ignis was here of all places stems from the fact it's the world that Ignis would HATE the most. Illogical, insane, and EXTREMELY childish: it's practically Iggy's _nightmare_.
> 
> Iggy's a gargoyle a la the cartoon Gargoyles.
> 
> I made Gladio a Red Oni because they're larger, they're shirtless, and are usually depicted as buff.
> 
> Noctis is a werewolf because of the fact their transformation is tied to the _moon._
> 
> Prompto is the same sort of being as Sally: a lab created being because I couldn't help myself.
> 
> On a final note: Ardyn is _already_ a monster: no need to change forms.
> 
> Oh, fun-ish fact: I finally checked my chapter lengths in a proper doc (because I tend to write in RTF files to keep from being overwhelmed by pages or lack-there-of) this chapter was around _**eight pages long**_. According to my doc-editor on FF. Net this is an average length but a few chapters have been actually longer than that.....


	10. I Know a Place Where Dreams Are Born and Time is Never Planned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Brotherhood has been completed once more, now Noctis, Sora and the others have to deal with - _a Pirate Ship in space?_
> 
> Neverland proves to be as fantastical as it sounds, especially with more reunions on the horizon.

“Are we going to keep running into that creep?” Sora said as the two groups prepped to take off.

“That seems to be our luck thus far,” Ignis said “So, now for the full introductions.”

“Maybe that should wait for when we all actually _look_ like ourselves again,” Noctis said.

“Fair enough,” Ignis said after a moment.

“You’re not going to believe it at all!” Prompto bounced in place giddily. Donald and Goofy shared a giggle. Goofy opened his mouth.

“Get on the ship before you spoil it, Goofy!” Donald said placing a feathered hand over the dog’s mouth.

“Gwarsh, Donald it’s like you don’t want him knowing that—.”

“Goofy!” the others said in unison.Goofy shrugged and boarded the ship with Sora and Donald following suit.

“I suppose any sensitive information should be kept away from his ears?” Ignis said.

“Definitely,” Gladio said.

“How is it you managed to get the Regalia here if they were loading into a space ship?” Ignis said.

“Check it out!” Prompto said sliding into the front seat, losing his disguising magic and becoming himself, while Noctis slid into the driver’s seat and pressed a button converting the Regalia into flight mode. Ignis took his glasses off and wiped them on his shirt before replacing them revealing that had just happened.

“Incredible,” Ignis said. He climbed in the backseat and was glad to see he too reverted to himself upon fully entering the Regalia.

“Meet you at the next point on the map, slow pokes!” Ignis blinked at Sora’s face on the GPS display. That face looked familiar to him. He just couldn’t place a finger on it.

“In your dreams!” Noctis said firing up the car and taking off, in a procedure that was very much like starting up the car in its regular terrestrial form, he noticed.

“Just keep an eye out for Monstro!” Goofy said.

“It wasn’t us who got swallowed by that whale, remember?” Prompto said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Donald huffed.

“Am I missing something?” Ignis said.

“Long story short, there’s this giant freaking whale flying about and it swallowed their ship!” Prompto held his hands out for emphasis.

“And it didn’t swallow you as well?”

“Nope, but we had our own problems,” Noctis said.

“A flying fortress full of them,” Gladio said.

“It would appear I missed an eventful—Watch out!” Noctis barely twirled the car out of the way of a massive form. A pirate ship. An honest to goodness _pirate ship_. In Inter-Space. _What the hell?_

“Sora!” Noctis saw the other ship get caught by the pirate vessel. Cannonballs were shot in their direction forcing Noctis to dodge and roll the Regalia to avoid taking fire. Prompto reached for the controls. Gladio leaned up and grabbed a shoulder.

“They have Sora and the others on board.”

“If you must shoot, aim for their cannons!” Ignis said after a moment.

“Gotcha! Glad to have you back Iggy,” Prompto said altering his aim and firing only at the cannons. This caused the ship to stop and try to out run the Regalia.

“Let’s let them think they got away, and we can trace them to their world of origin,” Ignis said placing a hand Noctis’s shoulder.

“Sure,” Noctis said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Sora awoke on the deck of the Pirate Ship, and immediately saw he was alone. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Riku was there as were a whole crew of Heartless and a man in red with a hook for a hand.

“Where are Donald and Goofy?” Sora demanded.

“Are they _that_ important to you? More important than old friends? Maybe instead of worrying about them, you should be asking about her!” Riku dramatically stepped aside revealing,

“Kairi!” Sora couldn’t believe it. There she was. _What’s wrong with her? She’s not moving._

“That’s right, while you were goofing off, I finally found her,” Riku crossed his arms smugly. Sora tried to run to her but Hook blocked his path.

“Not so fast. No shenanigans on my vessel, boy!” Sora kept his guard up as the pirate heartless surrounded him.

“Riku, why are you siding with the Heartless?” Sora asked.

“The Heartless obey me now, Sora. Now I have nothing to fear.” Riku gestured at the heartless but Sora shook his head in disgust.

“You’re stupid. Sooner or later they’ll swallow your heart.”

“Not a chance. My heart’s too strong.” Riku smugly crossed his arms.

“Riku…” Sora said sadly.

“I’ve picked up a few other tricks as well, just like you. Like this, for instance.” Riku held a hand out and a shadow Sora arose much to Sora’s shock. Wait a second. That’s right! He _did_ have a new trick. Sora summoned the keyblade and threw it past Riku. He warped to Kairi’s side.

“Like you said, just like me, you have new tricks,” Sora said crouching next to Kairi. Before he could try shaking her to get her attention he was swarmed by shadow versions of himself forcing him to warp away.

“You can go to your friends now,” Riku said. Sora looked at him confused before the ground gave away too fast for him to even think of warping.

“That ability of his could be quite troublesome,” Hook said twirling his mustache with his hook.

“That’s _your_ problem. Keep him away from Kairi until we land,” Riku said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“It was really her!” Sora said.

“That’s great, Sora!” Goofy said.

“Yeah, yeah, but get off!” Sora and Goofy scrambled off of Donald who got up and dusted himself off.

“Well the others aren’t here, so that must mean they haven’t been captured yet,” Goofy said.

“You’re right,” Sora said, “But first we have to get out of here.”

“Ahem!” They turn to the corner of the room.

“Who are you?”

“The answer to your prayers!”

———————————————————————————————————————————

“What! So you mean Wendy’s not one of the chosen ones?” Hook was fuming. _After all that blasted trouble_ —

“Maleficent says there are seven of them, supposedly, and she’s not one of them,” Riku said.

“After all the trouble I went to capture her? And why those seven? What is Maleficent planning!”

“As long as it gets Kairi’s heart back, I don’t care,” Riku said. The door burst in as a pair of burly pirates held a squirming fighting form between them.

“She broke out of her cell again, Captain!”

“Enough of this!” Hook said holding his hook up to her throat she stopped to glare at him. “You will behave yourself, girly!”

“My name is “Iris,” not girly!”

“Iris, you’re wasting your energy,” Riku said as he made more pirate heartless appear and surround her with their swords pointed at her. The two other pirates let her go and nursed the bruises she had inflicted on them.

“You really think all of this frightens me?” Iris said slipping into a fighting stance.

“It should, girly. You’re unarmed against me heartless crew!” Hook said. Iris snorted.

“Until you’ve gotten between my big brother and the last Cup Noodle, you haven’t _seen_ scary,” Iris said.

“If you keep this up, we’ll make sure the other girl walks the plank,” Riku said. Iris glared but stood down.

“You’re all cowards and I hope Gladdy gets here and kicks your asses!” Iris said allowing herself to be led away by the whole troupe of heartless.

“Make way, and get rid off all the dead weight first, including Wendy and her,” Riku said.

“With pleasure,” Hook said. _How dare that little girl call him not frightening! He was the menacing Captain Hook! The Scourge of the Seven Seas!_

———————————————————————————————————————————

“What an odd sight,” Ignis said studying the display before them “You’d think we’d be looking at a planet and not something irregularly shaped like that.”

“Never bothered to ask why, but when we get back to Traverse Town, I’m sure Merlin would know,” Prompto said, “Any blending in vibes here, Noct?”

“Nope. There appears to be some rocks near that ship on the display we can land on instead of having to attempt the ship directly for the element of surprise,” Noctis said.

“I’m proud of you for coming up with that plan, Noct,” Ignis said.

“Aw, gee thanks, Mom,” Noctis said rolling his eyes. He landed the Regalia in a sort of interspace pocket, like they had for Atlantica and leapt out of the car aiming for the water near the rocks. He swam to the surface and pulled himself up out of the water as the others joined him.

“What is that mysterious ticking noise?” Ignis asked. Noctis heard it and looked over to see ridges in the water that meant one thing: a crocodile. But what was a crocodile doing so far out?

“Dude! It’s a crocodile! What’s one of those doing here!” Prompto said, voicing Noctis’s thoughts.

“From its size, it would be a saltwater crocodile,” Gladio said, “I’ve seen pictures and they get bigger.”

“I suppose we should get away from it in a snap,” Ignis said. The ship started moving prompting them to leap and grab onto the anchorchain as it was pulled up. Noctis saw a porthole and used a quick smash with the Mace of the Fierce, to make a way in the ship.

“After you, Noct,” Ignis said. Noctis rolled his eyes and crawled in.

“You two really think I’m going to fit through that?” Gladio said while Prompto shimmied in.

“Perhaps it would be best if we climbed up on deck and provided a distraction,” Ignis said.

“Sure. Meet you later!” Noctis said from inside.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“Just waiting for a friend!” The boy who had had introduced himself as “the answer to their prayers” said. However, Sora and the others already _had_ a way out, not that the boy knew that. In through the small hole in the door buzzed a glowing, tinkling light, which turned out to be a tiny woman with wings: a pixie. She seemed to speak in some sort of tinkling language.

“Tinker Bell, what took you so long?” More of her strange language. “Great job, so you found Wendy?” Tinker Bell crossed her arms with a huff. “Are you crazy? There’s no way I’m going to leave Wendy there!”

“Aha. She must be pretty jealous,” Donald said. Tinker Bell glared a him before flying over and kicking him hard in the beak dazing the duck.

“Come on Tink, open up the door!” Peter pleaded.

“A-hem,” Sora coughed.

“I’m Peter Pan.” Peter held out a hand.

“I’m Sora.” Sora copied the move but Peter pulled his hand back quickly.

“Ok, we’re in this together but only ’til we find Wendy. Come on Tink, let us out!”

“I can help with that.” Sora aimed the keyblade at the door unlocking it with an audible click.

“That is a handy skill to have,” Peter said floating ahead of them as they exited the cell.

“So, uh, how come you can fly?” Goofy asked.

“Anyone can fly. Wanna try?” Peterlooked back at them. The others looked eager as Peter whistled. Tinker Bell came thinking back. She was still mad.

“Aw, haven’t you cold off yet Tink?” Tink stuck her tongue out at him, but she hovered at grabbing level prompting Peter to grab her and shake her over Sora, Donald, and Goofy covering them in pixie dust. She tinkled indignantly afterwards.

“Just a little bit of pixie dust, and there. Now you can fly!” Donald attempted it only to fail.

“Gwarsh, if Donald can’t do it, I bet we can’t either.” Goofy remarked.

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean!”

“You’re a bird,” Goofy said. Donald “baahhhed” and crossed his arms as they continued to make their way through the ship searching for Kairi and Wendy, as well as a way off.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Smee checked on the prisoners— _Oh no! They were out!_ He heard a smash below. That had to be Peter Pan! _There!_ He saw a flash of red and green. He had to tell the captain! Smee ran to the nearest speaking tube.

“Uh, Cap’in!”

_“What?”_

“The prisoners have escaped. What’s more, Peter Pan is with them.”

_“Blast that Peter Pan! All right, then! Bring the hostage to me cabin Smee! Hop to it!”_

“Aye-aye, Cap’in!”

———————————————————————————————————————————

Noctis and Prompto were in a dark hold of some sort and it was crawling with heartless that were wielding cutlasses barely visible in the scarce light that streamed in from holes above them.

“Noct, you’re bleeding a little,” Prompto said.

“I cut myself on the window,” Noctis said warp striking a heartless; he switched weapons to wipe out several with a greatsword. Prompto took them all down with his guns.

“More are coming!” Prompto said.

“Probably drawn to the fact we’re killing things down here,” Noctis said.

“Where did you come from, you scurvy scum?” Honest to goodness pirates. Well they _were_ on a pirate ship. The two were fat and one had a cutlass, and had a dagger in his teeth while the other had an old fashioned pistol along with a cutlass.

“This isn’t a fair fight at all,” Prompto said taking aim at the pair.

“You scared little boys?” one of the pirates said.

“Not of you,” Noctis said warping and punching the one out while Prompto shot the other one’s gun and sword from his hands before Noctis punched him out too.

“We’d better move fast. Chances are, more of them heard that,” Noctis said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Sora looked up at the grates in the ceiling above them and a pair of brown eyes, familiar looking brown eyes, stared back at him.

“Hey! Wendy, Peter’s here and he has friends!”

“Peter? Peter Pan! You must hurry, the pirates are coming!” Wendy said as she too joined the other girl.

“Wendy! I’m coming, just hold on!” Peter said.

“Is there another girl up there with you?” Sora asked.

“Yeah, she’s not moving. I’m Iris.” Iris said.

“Sora.” He climbed up and could see Kairi’s fingers. She was still just as listless as she had been before. _What was wrong with her?_

“Kairi? Kairi!” he yelled.

“Quick, help me with the dresser!” A shriek was heard and cursing and struggling.

“Let me go you creeps!” Iris yelled. Kairi’s arm and leg were dragged out of view.

“Wendy! Hey, let’s get up there.” Peter yelled.

“Let’s see if we can find a way up,” Sora said.

 

Peter found another room with a hole in the floor but the sound of gunfire below, made them pause.

“What was that?” Peter asked.

“That sounded like Prompto’s guns,” Goofy said.

“Prompto?” Peter quirked an eyebrow.

“A friend of ours,” Sora said, “That means Noctis and the others are here.”

“Whatever. I’m going after Wendy!” Peter said. Sora hesitated.

“They’ll catch up,” Donald said. Sora nodded and followed Peter into another room to find a ladder right up into a really nice cabin where Riku stood with Kairi on his back.

“Riku, wait!” Riku looked at Sora with a sneer. He gestured at the ground making another Shadow Sora and used that to get clear of Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Peter as other heartless swarmed them.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Riku was out on the main deck where disturbance was taking place. A massive man wielding a sword longer than his own large frame was making short work of most of the waves of heartless swarming him.

“Gladio, back me up!” Riku noticed another tall man, this one wearing a tailored suit and glasses was with the man.

“Coming right up, Ignis!”

“Do something about them!” Hook yelled.

“Not my problem,” Riku said turning away.

“Gladdy!” Riku turned back to see Iris trying to break free from the Pirates holding her. Gladdy. _Wait, that was her—_ Riku understood now _why_ she was not intimidated by the heartless, himself, the pirates, or Hook.

“Iris!” Gladio slammed his sword into more heartless and charged towards Iris. That was Riku’s cue to run. _That was_ ** _so_** _not his problem_.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“Ah, not so fast, my large friend,” Hook capitalized on this to point a blade at Iris’s throat, “So, you’re the brother this brat wouldn’t shut up about. I must say, I am impressed. However, should you continue this, the girly shall end up hurt.” Gladio let go of his weapon causing it to dissolve. Ignis followed suit.

“You might have won this round, but cowardice will not protect you forever,” Ignis said. Sora, Donald and Goofy burst out onto deck.

“Gladio!” Sora said.

“So you know each other. I suppose threatening your little pixie friend might be overkill. Your codfish friend went to the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resides, without even saying goodbye,” Hook said looking back at Sora, Donald and Goofy who noticed that Iris had a blade at her throat. Also, Hook motioned to Smee who revealed Tink had been captured in a lantern. Hook used his hook to scratch the glass, “But you’ll not be going there. Not unless you want your friends to suffer for it. And don’t even think of using your little teleportation trick, boy,” Hook said. Sora released the keyblade as the others let go of their weapons too, allowing the pirates and the pirate heartless to surround them.

Ignis’s eyes narrowed at the comment.“So, surrender the keyblade or you’ll walk the plank. Keep in mind, the heartless aren’t as _merciful_ as me.” That’s when the ticking noise resumed.

“It’s him! The crocodile that took me hand! Oh, Smee! He’s after me other hand! I can’t stay here!” The crocodile stuck his head out of the water and licked his lips. Hook paled further,

“G-Go away! Oh! I can’t stand the sight of him! Smee, you take care of them!” with that Hook retreated to his cabin, like the coward he was.

“Alright, now gents, off the plank with you!” Smee said ordering the pirate heartless what to do. Sora was forced to walk backwards away from the ship.

“Fly, Sora! Just believe and you can do it!” It was Peter? Sora closed his eyes as the crocodile opened his mouth wide below him and leapt off the plank soaring into the air. With that distraction, Peter Pan dove from above to save Tink while Iris elbowed the pirates holding her in the guts allowing Gladio to summon his sword and send more to the Pirate heartless scrambling away.

“Thanks Peter,” Sora said as he fought beside him.

“Hey, don’t mention it. You didn’t think I’d leave you and Tink behind, did you?”

The trap door exploded upwards and Noctis appeared grabbing onto a dagger embedded into a mast.

“What took you so long?” Gladio asked.

“Detour,” Noctis said before he warped down to the deck and took on a few more heartless. He blinked at the fact Sora, Donald, and Goofy were flying. Prompto scrambled out and helped pick off the flying heartless and soon everything was settled.

“Where’d you get those?” Peter asked looking at Prompto’s guns.

“A gun shop,” Prompto said, “How are all of you flying?”

“That’s a secret,” Peter said with a smirk. Tinker Bell rolled her eyes and tinkled at him before she dusted the others.

“Fine, but they’re grown-ups!” Peter said, “It’s not like they’ll be able to fly even with pixie dust!”

“Woo-hoo!” Prompto floated causing Peter to eat his words.

“Prompto has always been a child at heart,” Ignis explained.

“Now what?” Sora said.

“I have an idea,” Peter said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Hook cowered behind his desk. That crocodile was after his other hand. No it was after his very life. Oh, what was he to do! A knock on the door startled him.

“Is that you, Smee? did you finish them off?”

_“Aye, Cap’in. The walked the plank, every last one of them.”_

———————————————————————————————————————————

Sora and the others had to stifle their laughter at Peter’s spot on Smee impression, and stood at the ready whenever Hook burst out and looked around expectantly. Peter floated behind him and poked him in the butt with his dagger making Hook jump and see the group of people ready to fight him with the smiling Peter Pan floating over them.

“P-Peter Pa— ** _blast you_**!”

“Ready to make a splash, you old codfish? It’s _your_ turn to walk the plank!” Peter yelled. Heartless in the shape of battleships suddenly appeared; all of them aiming their guns at Sora, Noctis, Peter, and the others.

“Fire!” Hook said. Gladio summoned a shield and yanked Iris and Ignis behind him, Goofy doing the same with Donald. Prompto dove behind Gladio while Sora, Noctis, and Peter dodged forwards under the spray. Noctis warped up and drove his blade down into a battleship heartless causing it to disintegrate from impact.

“That is a neat trick,” Peter said. Sora nodded to Noctis and copied the move, which had Ignis’s eyebrows disappear into his hair line before he focused in the deck level heartless. In the middle of all of this Hook was dueling Peter Pan.

“Give it up, and prepare to meet thy doom!” Hook yelled.

“Dark and sinister man, have at thee!” Peter dove at him, only to be sent backwards into the air by a block of Hook’s sword.

“Watch out!” A fire spell nearly hit Peter who ducked out of the way in time. The same could not be said for Hook. Sora winced whenever he realized he’d set Hook’s pants on fire. A click let him know Prompto had immortalized the moment on his camera. More clicks followed as Hook ran around like a loon which allowed Peter to wait for the opportune moment to shove the evil pirate overboard with a giant splash. Hook glared up at Peter but he froze. A ticking was nearby and he turned to slowly see the crocodile was right next to him, happily licking its chops. With a girlish scream, Hook ran away for fast he was skimming across _the top_ of the water,

“Smee!!!!!!”

“Hang on Cap’in!” Smee lowered a rowboat and soon was following after his terrified captain as the coward fled the croc, screaming into the distance.

———————————————————————————————————————————

“You’re all ok!” Iris dragged the guys into a hug.

“You know them, Iris?” Peter asked.

“Well, this is my big brother, Gladio,” Iris said gesturing to Gladio, “His friend Ignis, Prince Noctis, and Noct’s best friend Prompto. I don’t know the others though.”

“That’s ok, we’ve already met,” Peter said. Sora smiled and rubbed the back of his neck as he looked up and made his way over to the railing. He looked out over water. “I still can’t believe it. I actually flew. Wait ‘till I tell Kairi. I wonder if she’ll believe me. Probably not.” Sora shook his head. There's no way him flying would even sound real to her.

“You can bring her to Neverland sometime. Then she can try it herself,” Peter said.

“Yeah, Noct could bring Luna too,” Prompto said grabbing Noct into a headlock which he slipped out of and messed with Prompto’s hair.

“It’s time to get Wendy home,” Peter said with a sigh. Tinker Bell did a happy dance before she flew all over the ship.

“Are you making the whole ship fly?” Prompto asked.

“Of course! Anything’s possible if you believe!” Peter said.

“If you believe, you can do anything, right? I’ll find Kairi. I know I will. There’s so much I want to tell her—about flying, the

pirates, and everything else that’s happened.” Sora said. Everyone held on as the ship lurched upwards.

“So, where did you meet Sora?” Iris asked.

“I met him in the world I ended up on,” Gladio said, “He, Noct, Donald, and Goofy arrived in the middle of a tournament.”

“I met him when they came to the world I ended up on,” Prompto said, “It was a fun world. Full of adventure and treasure.”

“We woke up on Traverse Town together,” Noctis said, “It’s a hubworld for people who lose their worlds.”

“So, did he become your glaive or something? I saw him warp,” Iris said.

“I was wondering about that myself,” Ignis said.

“He’s not a glaive,” Noctis said standing next to Sora and messing up his spikes causing the younger teen to bat his hand away.

“Then how can he use that ability?” Ignis said.

“Well, my real name isn’t Sora,” Sora said, “I mean I answer to it and I grew up being called Sora, but my birth name is Astris.”

 

Ignis snapped his fingers as the pieces finally fell into place.

“Astris Lucis Caelum, disappeared age three, second son of King Regis Lucis Caelum and Queen Aulea,” Ignis said.

“He’s Prince Astris?” Iris said.

“We did a test to prove it and everything,” Prompto said.

“You do look a great deal like Her Majesty did,” Ignis said after a few moments.

“I do?” Sora said. Noctis nodded.

“Yeah, you’re a lot like her in other ways too,” Noctis said.

“I wish I remembered her,” Sora said.

“Don’t feel bad about that,” Noctis said, “You were really little when she….”

“How old was I?” Sora asked.

“Almost two,” Noctis said.

“Oh,” Sora said.

“So, where were you for the last eleven years?” Iris said.

“Another world: The Destiny Islands. Kairi and Riku also grew up there,” Sora said.

“You grew up with that jerk?” Iris said.

“He didn’t used to be like that,” Sora said, “Before this, I’d have said he was my best friend. He changed while he’s been out here. He’s getting too close to the darkness, and I don’t really know him anymore.”

“Perhaps he isn’t yet completely lost,” Ignis said.

“Check it out!” Prompto drew their attention away from the conversation to their surroundings. They were floating near a huge clock tower that made Altissia’s own clock tower seem puny in comparison.

“That’s amazing!” Sora said. Wendy and Peter were walking and talking to one another on the tower.

“Peter, are you really going back to Neverland?” Wendy asked.

“Afraid so, but we can see each other any time. As long as you don’t forget about Neverland, that is,” Peter held her hands. That was the final straw for Tink, who was floating nearby. She angrily flew circles around Peter and Wendy, rapidly yelling at Peter in pixie. Donald laughed at her drawing the angry fairy’s attention to him, so Donald covered his beak, having learned his lesson. She spun around Sora too.

“Oh, boy she’s getting steamed again. Do me a favor, and look after her, will ya?”

“What?” Sora said.

“She needs some time to cool off, so let her tag along with you,” Peter said.

“She can join your other cute summons,” Noctis said.

“Cute?”’ Sora arched an eyebrow.

“You summon two baby animals, a lion, and Genie,” Noctis said.

“Oh yeah? What can _you_ summon?” Sora said.

“He has the blessings of two of the six astrals,” Ignis said.

“The what?” Sora asked.

“They’re sort of like our gods,” Prompto said, “Big and impressive. Here!” Prompto pulled up a photograph of Ramuh the Fulgurian.

“Wow! He sure is big!” Goofy said. A half memory came to mind for Sora.

“Ram-something?” Sora said.

“Close, Ramuh,” Ignis said.

“I can’t believe you remember that,” Noctis said.

“Sora, could I speak to you a moment,” Wendy said. Sora nodded and floated over to her, “I can tell you worry about Kairi.”

“Is it that obvious?” Sora rubbed the back of his neck.

“The way you spoke about her earlier was,” Wendy gave him a small smile, “Peter will remain with me as long as I remember him. You will find Kairi if she remains in your heart. Just don’t give up.”

“Thanks,” Sora said.

“We need to get going. The others found a new navigation gummi and we have to get Iris to safety at Traverse Town,” Noctis said nodding to Wendy.

“Bye, Wendy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter Iris the Sass Mistress. Honestly, Ardyn vs Maleficent was one of the first scenes in my head for this, but Iris sassing off at Riku was another early idea I had.  
> Especially considering she and Riku are the same age (they're both fifteen). 
> 
> Riku is quite glad he didn't have to fight Gladio. He might be a bit of a punk, but he's not an idiot.
> 
> Originally, I was going to have Talcott show up with the Lost boys, but that really would have muddled everything up. Way too many moving parts to keep straight, so to speak. 
> 
> Now Iggy's fully filled in on who Sora is to Noctis. Given more time, Iggy would have figured it out, since Sora looks like a younger male version of Aulea (at least in this universe). Though, he has Regis's eyes.  
> If you look at any anime shots of a younger Regis, they eyes are blue. It's using the crystal that's turning them reddish-brown.
> 
> Things are heading right towards the end of the KH arc with Hallow Bastion up after a brief break, because the plot demands it (I mean, there's no way in HELL Gladio would drag Iris to a world crawling with Heartless like Hollow Bastion is)
> 
> Future plans do include ideas for a 358/2 arc as well as a KH 2 and a DDD one as well (another of my amusing images was Ardyn vs some of the 'Norts because he hates Xehanort for messing with his plans)


	11. Betwixt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is a rare moment of calmness as the gang relaxes on Traverse Town before they gear up to head into Maleficent's lair: the once radiant Hollow Bastion.

“This is amazing!” Iris leaned over Noctis’s lap to gaze out the windows of the Regalia. Ignis piloted the flying car expertly past asteroids and heartless ships, though Prompto’s skills with shooting those down were nothing to be sneezed at either.

“So, how are you taking the fact that Sora is Astris or haven’t you really had time to process it?” Iris said.

“Not exactly,” Noctis said, “It still seems a bit unreal.”

“I know! He seemed like this imaginary person until now,” Iris said, “So, did anyone else make it off Eos like us?”

“Cindy made it,” Prompto said.

“Prompto’s “Grease Monkey Goddess.”” Gladio smirked.

“ _Oh_ …” Iris nodded.

“ ** _Gladio_**!” Prompto was beet red and the others laughed at him.

“So, why doesn’t Sora ride with you guys?” Iris asked.

“Before it was because it was easier for him to stick with Donald and Goofy. Now, it’s just a matter of space,” Noctis said.

“You guys don’t seem to like Donald and Goofy, though.”

“Goofy’s alright. It’s Donald I don’t trust,” Noctis said.

“He thinks they’re using Sora,” Gladio shifted to look out the window, “That magic keyblade of his is pretty impressive even compared to the Royal Arms.”

“They seemed nice to me,” Iris said.

“They’ve gotten better,” Noctis said.

“So, what’s this place you’re taking me like?” Iris asked. Everyone was glad for the topic change.

“As I’ve not been there yet, I couldn’t tell you,” Ignis said.

“Old Fashioned,” Gladio said, “Nice but don’t expect any wifi.”

“There’s indoor plumbing and electricity right?” Iris asked.

“Yep, thank goodness,” Prompto said fighting off a yawn.

“Perhaps there will be a chance for some rest while we await upgrades to the navigation,” Ignis said.

“That’s basically what we’ve been doing,” Noctis said.

“Good to hear.”

—————————————————————————————————————

“Wow! You weren’t kidding when you called it old fashioned,” Iris said looking around the First District’s plaza. There were a few kids running around in an assortment of clothes including,

“Pinocchio!” Sora waved at the puppet boy who waved back before rejoining the other kids.

“That was a—Never mind, I just came from a place with fairies,” Iris said shaking her head.

“That was very much my own thoughts,” Ignis said.

—————————————————————————————————————

“You’re headed to an area crawling with heartless, so the upgrades are going to take longer than usual because we need to up your shields and fire power,” Cid said looking at the gathered group. “Who’s this?”

“I’m Iris, Gladdy’s my big brother,” Iris said with a smile gesturing to the King’s Shield.

“She must take after your mother,” Cid said after a moment.

“She does,” Gladio said with a smile.

“Cid, Aerith needs more power to the house!” Yuffie walked into the Accessory Shop and blinked. “Oh, hi! I’m the Great Ninja Yuffie!”

“Iris Amicitia,” Iris said offering a hand.

“Amicitia? Oh! Are you related to him?” Yuffie said.

“She’s my baby sister. We need to leave her here when we go to the next world,” Gladio said.

“I’m not some doll to protect!” Iris said.

“But you’re unarmed and I would fight better knowing you’re safe,” Gladio said. Iris looked to the others who suddenly made themselves scarce. In Sora and Noctis’ case it was literal: they made themselves vanish via weapons thrown out the door. Ignis simply ducked out after them, while no one was quite sure where Prompto had gotten to at the moment.

“Noctis isn’t making Sora stay here!” Iris yelled.

“Sora has a _magic weapon_ and can use magic spells along with being able to warp himself away from harm!” Gladio said.

“Why would old sourpuss have any say over Sora anyway? I know the guy took the kid under his wing and all,” Yuffie said.

“That’s because—.” Iris stopped when Gladio cut her off.

“That’s not important. The final word is that this is over your head. You went on one hunt with us; I was terrified the whole time you’d get hurt. We’re all we have left and I can’t lose you too,” Gladio said. Iris sighed,

“Fine. You owe me big for this.”

“What’s with the shouting, kupo?” Iris looked up and squealed with delight. There were Moogles peering down from the ceiling.

“Oh, sorry about that. Sibling fight,” Yuffie said.

“A real life moogle!” Iris said pulling the poor thing out of the air and hugging it.

“Kupo let go!” it squealed.

“Sorry,” Iris said letting go promptly. Prompto’s head poked down from the ceiling.

“Is this a bad time to tell her there’s a whole workshop full of awesome real moogles up here?” he said. The ear shattering shriek was the answer he needed.

—————————————————————————————————————

Out in the plaza, Noctis yawned loudly.

“I think you should head to the Small House while you can,” Sora said, “Otherwise you’ll fall asleep standing up.”

“Only if you promise to sleep too,” Noctis said messing with Sora’s hair. He stopped. “What do you plan to do once this is all over?”

“What do you mean?” Sora asked.

“Are you going to go back to the Islands?” Noctis asked. Sora stopped. He hadn’t really thought about it.

“I don’t know yet,” Sora said.

“Hey, what did we say about frowning!” Donald waddled over.

“How can you guys keep being so upbeat whenever there’s been no sign of your king?” Sora asked.

“Well, he told us to find the Keybearer and we found you. So, long as we stick together, it’ll work out ok. Ya just gotta believe in yourself!” Goofy said.

“Just believe….,” Sora muttered. He seemed to space out.

“Sora? Sora!” Noctis waved a hand in front of his face and Sora snapped out of it.

“Are you alright?” Noctis asked.

“Just a little tired. I probably _should_ get some sleep too,” Sora said rubbing the back of his neck.

—————————————————————————————————————

Sora thought about the crazy vision he’d had.

_He’d thought he heard Kairi’s voice,_

_“I believe in you!” before he went through a light and he was floating in a library larger than any he remembered ever being in._

_“Where am I?” he wondered as he floated. He saw a little redhaired girl who seemed familiar to him and and older woman sitting at a table._

_“Grandma!” the girl said. Her Grandmother smiled back, “Tell me the story again!”_

_“Alright._ _Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people’s hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived...in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It’s the world we live in now. But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That’s why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return. So, listen, child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. Do you understand, Kairi?” Sora blinked. The old woman was gone leaving the little girl. Wait. The Grandmother had called her—,_

_“Kairi?!”_

 

It was after that Noctis had snapped him back to reality. _Had Kairi contacted him somehow?_

—————————————————————————————————————

“Restocked and ready to fly,” Ignis said once Noctis and Sora rejoined everyone at the World Gates.

“Everything’s in, and the weapons are upgraded, but I still wouldn’t fly to a place crawling with heartless. You can’t say I didn’t warn you,” Cid said.

“I upgraded the Regalia as best I could but these gummi blocks just don’t take to the old girl all that well,” Cindy said, “So you’re going to have to get by without a shield. I was able to beef up the guns, so you’ll be packing a lot more heat to make up for it.”

“Wait, I’ve gotten something for all of you too!” Iris arrived panting with a box in her arms. “It took some begging and some scavenging but here!” She opened up the box to reveal seven bangles and not just any bangles, _mythril_ bangles.

“Where did you find the munny?” Gladio asked.

“Turns out, Moogle Plushies are all the rage no matter where we go,” Iris said with a huge grin, “Especially with the Moogles themselves.”

“You managed to make enough money with Moogle plushies overnight?” Ignis said.

“Kupo! We need three more!” A Moogle floated over with its own mini-plush held tightly in its arms and a child sized Moogle floating shyly behind it.

“Sure thing! Be careful,” Iris said looking at everyone, “You’d better come back in one piece. That means _all_ of you!”

—————————————————————————————————————

“Are we ready for this?” Noctis asked once everyone was inside the vehicle.

“Born ready,” Gladio said.

“So, up next is the lady behind it all,” Prompto said.

“What makes you say that?” Ignis said.

“Well, she seemed to be pulling Jafar’s strings and that punk “friend” went off to join her and everyone seems to think she’s extra bad news,” Prompto said.

“Fair enough.” Ignis replied.

“You guys ready?” Sora’s face popped up on the view screen.

“Ready to fly. We will see you there,” Ignis said. Sora nodded before the screen reverted to being the GPS unit. The gummiship took off first while the Regalia needed a driving start.

“Our mission is to take down this Maleficent woman?” Ignis said.

“And save Sora’s girlfriend,” Noctis said.

“Is it his friend who is a girl or his girlfriend?” Ignis asked.

“I think it’s both,” Noctis said.

“Getting started on the sibling teasing early, huh Noct?” Gladio said.

“Like you’re not?” Noctis said.

“What about Luna?” Prompto said, “We haven’t seen her yet. What if she’s on the next world?”

“Then we find her and protect her,” Noctis said.

—————————————————————————————————————

Noctis looked out the window as interspace flew by. He’d been so caught up with the guysand Sora he’d almost forgotten about Luna. She wasn’t ever completely gone from his thoughts, but their adventures between worlds did act as huge distraction. He hoped she was alright.

—————————————————————————————————————

Maleficent looked down at Riku who had the unresponsive Kairi on his back. He was panting heavily.

“It was reckless to bring her here without at least using a vessel. Remember, relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost you your heart.” Maleficent opened her mouth to say more whenever a roar echoed in the distance. “A cast away. Though his world perished, his heart did not. When we took the princess from his castle, he apparently followed her here through sheer force of will. But fear not. No harm will come to you. He is no match for your power.”

“My power?” Riku said.

“Yes. The untapped power that lies within you. Now, child, it’s time you awakened that power and realized your true potential,” Maleficent said. The look on his face as the magic did its work made her smirk. He was just as easy to mould as that fool from ten years previous. She idly wondered what had ever become of _that_ keybearer. No matter. There were other things to which she needed to attend now that she had all seven of the pure maidens.

—————————————————————————————————————

Riku couldn’t believe how strong he felt.

“I shall take care of her. You need not worry about that. Though, you should see to our house guest should he prove troublesome.” Maleficent waved a hand and Kairi was floating in a ball of light. The dark fairy made a portal and the ball floated after her. Riku followed her not long after. Kairi was gently placed before the portal.

“She will be safe here. The Heartless do not encroach on this area because I ordered them,” Maleficent said. Riku glanced around the Great Hall and his eyes were drawn to the glowing parts of the walls by the entrance. He walked down the stairs and stared. It was the other maidens. The Princesses of Heart.

“With their powers we can restore your friend’s missing heart,” Maleficent said placing a hand on Riku’s shoulder. He nodded. He looked to the side and his eyes widened. It was Luna!

—————————————————————————————————————

_Riku helped Luna into the castle despite the woman’s insistence she was fine. She looked so pale. Maleficent lead the way and those living shadows, heartless, drew back at her approach and both seemed afraid and hungry when they drew near Luna at all. There was a grand bedroom Maleficent revealed behind a set of doors. She pulled out a small vial and it glowed._

_“Drink this, my dear, and what ails you will be undone,” she said._

_“Nothing can be done,” Luna said. Her weary tone was resigned._

_“On your world, perhaps, but we are in a different world and different rules apply,” Maleficent said. Luna weakly made her way over to the bed, took the vial, and drank it. Luna glowed a little and her injuries vanished. Her color also improved greatly. Maleficent waved a hand over the gem on top her staff and Luna’s tattered clothing became a clean, whole nightgown._

_“Rest, my dear and I will take care of the child,” Maleficent ushered Riku out and the doors closed behind them._

—————————————————————————————————————

_Riku visited Luna two days later, after he’d seen Sora and his new friends. She was sitting up in the bed looking better than ever. That Trident was propped up next to her bed as she held a notebook in her hands._

_“What’s that notebook? Is it your diary?” Riku asked._

_“It’s a way a dear friend and I communicated on my world. I had a pair of magical messenger dogs that would deliver the notebook back and forth between me and Noct.”_

_“Noct?” Riku asked. Luna smiled at him._

_“Noctis Lucis Caelum. King of Lucis and…. my fiancé,” Luna said, “We were ripped apart when Eos fell into Darkness. I’m sure he’s out in the worlds. His heart was too strong to be lost.”_

_“You’re supposed to marry a King?” Riku said. Luna gave him a sad smile._

_“Before my country fell to the forces of Niflheim, I was its Princess,” Luna said, “You remind me a lot of my brother Ravus.”_

_“I do?” Riku said. Luna nodded. Riku shifted uncomfortably. “What’s with that Trident?”_

_“It’s a ceremonial weapon passed down the line of the Oracle of the Six,” Luna said, “It was once wielded by an Oracle Queen of Lucis, one of Noctis’s ancestors. Only the Blood of the Oracle or the Kings of Lucis can wield this weapon.”_

_“Oracle? Like telling the future?” Riku said._

_“Some Oracles can. My powers are to heal the Scourge and commune with the Six,” Luna said._

_“Scourge?”_

_“A disease rooted in Darkness,” Luna said. She looked down at her hands as if she wanted to say more._

_“You must let Lady Luna rest,” Maleficent swept into the room making Riku jump a little, “I have need of your assistance.”_

—————————————————————————————————————

Riku shook his head as he looked at Luna’s peaceful looking face. She was his friend and she would understand someday that he needed to help Kairi, no matter what the cost.

He had to. Sora was too obsessed with his new powers to even bother caring.

“What if I told you the truth about that horrible boy and his powers?” Riku hadn’t realized he said any of that a loud until Maleficent spoke.

“What truth?”

—————————————————————————————————————

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this seeming like filler but it was a necessary section for characters.
> 
> The awesome Inquisitor_emi wrote an AU fic for this crossing it over with her universe! Please do check it out :D  
> I also posted a Prequel-ish BBS-ish fic [ _An Audience with the King_](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12288639) I am still likely to do another BBS fic, but like _An Audience with the King_ it'll be a one shot and have very little bearing on the BBS plotline.  
>  We're getting into the thick of it soon.  
> We'll also be reaching my first multi-part world. Hollow Bastion is not something to be done in one go. Neither is its story equivalent.


	12. Hollow Bastion Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora, Donald, Goofy, Noctis, Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis have finally arrived at Hollow Bastion where the person behind all of this (allegedly) dwells: Maleficent. After a crash landing separates the two groups, must face their own obstacles and challenges, as well as forces that seek to drive them all apart.

The Heartless were everywhere. Even using the warp drives to bypass most of it to Neverland, it was still rough going.

“Think you can keep up?” Sora asked Ignis as they jointly blasted a hole through the waves of heartless ships and other interspace debris.

“I suppose the question is whether or not you are up to the challenge, Your Highness,” Ignis said. Sora started at the title, but he shook it off.

“Gwarsh it’s still strange to think you’re a prince!” Goofy said.

“I know,” Sora said. Noctis’s world sounded so dangerous but it also sounded amazing. “Iggy, look out!” The Regalia was sideswiped by a large heartless ship just as they arrived at the coordinates. The next world that the database called “Hollow Bastion.” Maleficent's Lair.

“We’re going down hard. We will meet up with you at your lading point some how,” Ignis said as their signal was lost and the Regalia plunged forwards onto the planet.

“We should go after them—.”

“No. They’ll be fine,” Donald said, “The Mission comes first.” Sora sighed as he landed the ship at the edge of a landing zone. He sent out a silent prayer,

 _Be safe guys_.

—————————————————————————————————————

The Regalia wasn’t totaled, but she _was_ very rough looking. Prompto climbed out and shook his head,

“The old girl’s a total wreck!” Noctis looked at the car sadly patting the sides.

“She’s over heated, but she should be able to fly after a few tweaks,” Ignis said.

“I can’t believe Mr. Careful crash-landed her!” Noctis said.

“It is hardly my fault that ship smashed into us,” Ignis said crossing his arms, “Our next course of action must be to regroup with Sora and the others.”

“Right, but who’s going to fix up the old girl enough to fly in the mean time?” Gladio said jerking a thumb at the car.

“Perhaps I should,” Ignis said.

“Dude, do you know _anything_ about cars?” Prompto asked.

“I can read instruction manuals well enough,” Ignis said, “And I was given rudimentary mechanical training whenever it was decided I would act as Noct’s driver.”

“I’m going to stay here with Specs,” Gladio said.

“I am more than capable of defending myself,” Ignis summoned a dagger.

“ _While_ fixing up the car?” Gladio said.

“Fine. Catch up when you can,” Noctis said, “Let’s go, blondie!”

“Blondie?” Prompto looked at the others who shrugged.

“How do we even know where to go?” Prompto asked. Noctis pointed up at the sky. A castle dominated the horizon.

“If I was an evil fairy witch bent on world.. _s_ domination, I’d probably want a castle as my base of operations.”

“Ah, right.”They were in what looked like the ruins of a town There were empty water fountains and a lot of ripped up stone pavers. Prompto nearly slipped on a giant sign.

“Radiant Garden Accessory Shop,” Prompto read. He snapped a photo of it.

“They weren’t kidding when they said Maleficent trashed their world,” Prompto took a few more photos, “I wonder how bad Insomnia looks.” Noctis sort of looked up at Prompto.

“Oh. Sorry, I—.” Prompto babbled until Noctis held a hand up.

“We need to keep moving,” Noctis picked his way through theshattered square. Like Traverse Town, this world seemed like it had technology on par with Eos, and even Insomnia. They encountered heartless at an area full of broken water spouts and cracked platforms that looked a bit like a massive bank of fountains. At least that’s what it looked like to Noctis and Prompto. Some of the heartless had odd shapes to them. Different from that of the usual shadows, they were taller, more muscular, and had long jagged antenna that hung down their backs. Their claws were also much, much sharper.

“What the hell are these things! Shadows on steroids?” Prompto picked off as many as he could with his pistols before switching to the bio blaster and causing it to black fire a mini black hole to suck up all the creatures. More spawned forcing the pair back to back.

“Got any bright ideas?”

“Not many that don’t end up with us getting hit by my own Blizzara spell,” Noctis said palming a magic flask.

“But you were getting better at that!”

“I don’t trust myself.”

“If you don’t we’re toast!”

“Fine, but don’t blame me for your frostbite!” Noctis grasped the orb and threw it in the air. He felt the magic explode outwards. _Only affect the darkness. Only affect the darkness!_ When the mist cleared from the spell only the heartless were frozen.

“Dude! You did it!” Prompto began to sing the victory chant to his favorite video game franchise and danced around. Noctis sighed in relief. Then the ground trembled.

“Look alive, Prompto!” Water gushed out of the ground in geysers drenching them both and the area was flooding rapidly, the winds were picking up and walls of water were forming.

“ ** _Did you forget about our agreement, Spec_**?”

—————————————————————————————————————

Sora, Donald, and Goofy had landed at a set of waterfalls that were falling upwards as if in reverse. Reverse Falls.

“Gawrsh, look at that!” Goofy had managed to look past this strange phenomenon and up at the twisted towering structure. The ruins of Hollow Bastion. Sora studied it with a strange ache in his heart.

“I know this place…..”

“That’s strange,” Goofy said. Sora took a few steps closer.

“I wonder why... I feel this warmth inside, right here,” he placed his hand on his chest.

“You’re just hungry,” Donald waved it off.

“That’s not it at all,” Sora said, “I’m serious!” Just then a loud roar ripped through the air startling the trio.

“We’d better go check it out, Fellas!” Goofy said.

“Let’s go!” Sora charged ahead leaping from platform to platform wiping out shadows with ease.

—————————————————————————————————————

On a floating stone platform—not far from Sora, Donald, and Goofy— there were two forms staring one another down. One figure was a humanoid beast. He wore a tattered purple cloak, tattered blue pants, had lupin feet, and a lupine tail, appeared to have short ears like a boar, a mane like a lion, horns like a ram, and the snout of a sort of bear like creature complete with huge fangs. Across from him, looking smug, was Riku.

“No vessel, no help from the Heartless... So, tell me; how’d you get here?”

“I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. **I will have her back**!”

“Then try to take her!” Riku had his strange wing like blade out against the unarmed beast. Perhaps unarmed was a wrong assessment because the claws on its hybrid paw/hand it attempted to use to take a chunk out of Riku looked lethal. Riku easily dodged the blow with a casual flip and land a mighty blow crumpling the beast to the ground, just a Sora and the other two arrived.

“Stop!” Sora ran to check on the Beast who was still breathing. He summoned his keyblade staring at his friend. Riku smirked at him.

“So, you finally made it. About time. I’ve been waiting for you. We’ve always been rivals, haven’t we? You’ve always pushed me as I’ve always pushed you.”

“Riku…” Sora’s face fell. How had it come to this?

“But it all ends here. There can’t be _two_ Keyblade masters.”

“What are you talking about?” Sora’s stance loosened. What did he mean by that?

“Let the Keyblade choose…” Riku held a hand out “…its true master.” The effect was instantaneous, the weapon began to jerk and wobble in Sora’s hands before vanishing in a burst of light and reappearing in Riku’s expectant palm, the colors inverted and his smirk turned cruel Sora, Donald, and Goofy exchanged confused looks.

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Maleficent was right. You don’t have what it takes to save Kairi.” Riku looked up at the sky with his cruel smirk on his face, “Only the True master of the Keyblade can open the secret door.” He raised the blade to the sky, “…and change the world!”

Sora stared at Riku at a loss. “But that’s impossible. How did this happen? I’m the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade!”

Riku admired his new weapon and spared Sora a glance: a smug, self-satisfied glance.

“ _You_ were just the delivery boy.”Riku released the blade dispelling it in a flash of light. With a flourish he produced a crude wooded training sword, “Sorry, your part’s over now. Here, go play hero with _this_.”

Riku flung the toy at Sora, the wooden blade landing with a very final sounding “clunk.” It all was very real to Sora who fell to his hands and knees, utterly defeated. Riku walked away without even a backwards glance.

A few moments passed before Donald stood up and ruffled his feathers.

“Goofy. Let’s go. We have to remember our mission.” Goofy was visibly torn.

“Oh! Well, I know the king told us to follow the key and all... But…” Donald’s gaze stayed on the Captain of the Guard before he walked forwards with a sad sound. Donald took a few waddling steps forwards before he stopped for a moment. Without even glancing back, he spoke.

“Sora, Sorry.”

—————————————————————————————————————

Noctis’s eyes widened as a form emerged from the waters. It was not the same Tide Mother he’d fought in Altissia scant… _gods_ it really was only _days_ ago? Instead, he faced down a mermaid like form. From the waist up, it was a beautiful but very feral looking woman with long tangled black hair and fins protruding from her body much like Leviathan’s fins on her ordinary sea serpent form. From the waist down, she was still a sea serpent, only much smaller now. Her eyes were the same reptilian golden they had been in her larger form, her skin the same blue-gray as her scales; Her wrath was as great as ever.

“ ** _This darkness interrupted your trial, blasphemer, and reduced me to this_**!” Leviathan shrieked, “ ** _Let’s see if your spec self stands a chance against me even in this pathetic form_**!”

“Prompto, go on ahead to the castle and find Sora,” Noctis said, “This is my fight.”

“Dude, are you **nuts**? That’s a literal **_goddess_** who wants to **kill** you!”

“ ** _What’s one more spec against the deep_** ,” Leviathan sneered.

“Please,” Noctis said.

“Fine, but if she eats you, it’s your fault!” Prompto retreated via smacking a spigot nearby and using the force of the water to escape and scramble up the fountains to the next area.

“ ** _What are you waiting for_**?” Leviathan sneered before she began her assault. The vortex that formed blocked Noctis off from escaping and it also made it difficult for him to warp.He had to summon his armiger. The eleven weapons sprang to life around him, surrounding him with a glow. He hoped it would be enough this time to turn the tide.

—————————————————————————————————————

Prompto shot his way through more waves of heartless as he ran down a waterway system. On the other side of the gate was the castle. Only, it was shut. _Oh, look, a control panel!_ Prompto pried it open and had it hot-wired, dropping the grates allowing him to progress. This was actually some seriously cool tech. He could feel his fingers twitching as he thought of poking around it later. _Task at hand, Prompto_! He pressed onwards. Some weird elevator thing looked dead. Following the chords, he found the generator and rigged it to get going too. It was…a relief to not have to pretend **_not_** to know how to do this. So many times he felt useless because he was hiding his past. Prompto stepped off the platform and stared up at the steampunk fantasy mash-up that was Hollow Bastion castle. Larger heartless appeared and Prompto gasped before taking them down with a barrage of bullets. Prompto arrived at the front doors and tried them only to find they were locked. Prompto checked all over the door frame and pulled out a small set of lock picks. What Noct, Iggy, and Gladio didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt them. Prompto fumbled with the picks, it had been so long and his muscle memory was all but gone. Soon enough the door clicked open. Prompto slipped them into his pocket before slipping inside. He heard it lock behind him causing him to moan. Great.

“Who are _you_?“ Prompto snapped his head up at the snotty tone.

“You’re that jerk from the boat!” Right. Sora’s “friend” Riku. Yeah, some friend! Wait a second. Prompto’s pistols were drawn and pointed at Donald.

“What the _hell_ are you two doing?” he demanded.

“We have our mission!” Donald said. Though he had put some force into his tone, it was also sort of dead.

“We left their little friend a toy to play with,” Riku summoned the keyblade, “This really is in better hands now than that—.” Prompto’s gun was pointed right at Riku now.

“Finish that sentence. I dare you,” Prompto said.

“As if you know him well enough to defend him,” Riku dismissed the keyblade, “He’s not cut out for anything more than being second best.” Prompto flicked the safety off, causing Riku to tense up. At this range, only a Lucii had a hope in the hells of avoiding Prompto. Prompto snorted.

“You’re not even worth my bullet,” Prompto dismissed the guns. Riku looked smug for all of a moment before Prompto sucker punched him on the nose.

“Ow! Your faces is as hard as a rock,” Prompto moaned as he walked away shaking out his fist, leaving Donald and Goofy to help Riku stand back up.

—————————————————————————————————————

_Several minutes prior……_

Sora just stared at the toy sword before him in numb shock. A scuffing noise made him snap his head over at the source. It was the Beast.

“No, don’t move! You’re hurt!” Sora held him in place. Beast looked Sora in the eyes. Sora almost flinched at how human those eyes were.

“Why….did…you come …..here. I came…to fight for Belle.” Beast stood up again and limped forward, “and though I am on my own, I will fight. I won’t leave without her. That’s why I’m here.” Sora looked down at the toy sword on the ground. He almost picked it up before he held a hand out and focused on one of Noctis’s spare swords. If he could warp like Noctis then…. Sora’s hand jerked from the weight of the Blood Blade appearing in his hand.

“Me too. I’m not going to give up now. I came here to find someone very important to me.” _Don’t worry, Kairi, I’m coming_.

—————————————————————————————————————

Noctis was drenched and partly covered in his own blood looking a bit worse for wear. Leviathan had a few ragged patches herself as he had managed to slash off a huge section of her right lower back fin.

“ ** _The power of kings has failed you_**!” Leviathan dove at him, a shadowy image of her truer self formed as she moved. Using some of the last of his strength Noctis warped with the Star of the Rogue counting on the royal arm’s special power to aid him. It struck several blows to Leviathan’s face, spraying Noctis with blood. While she was reeling he had his chance. He switched to the Axe of the Conquerer and gashed her down her gullet through her tail and broke away panting heavily.

“ ** _You worthless…spec_**!” She fell forwards as blue lights floated from her and bound themselves to Noctis. A surge of energy sent him to his knees. The Mark of the Hydrean.

“ ** _Don’t make me regret it_** ,” Leviathan said before she turned into water and vanished into the hole from which she’d sprung. Noctis fumbled for an elixir to keep on his feet. He had a feeling he needed to catch up, and _fast_. He had a feeling something was happening.

—————————————————————————————————————

Sora and Beast finally managed to activate the door system and arrived in the foyer in time to see Prompto walking out of a side room shaking out his fist.

“Prompto?”

“Sora! Why is the silver emo running around with your sword? Uh, how did you get one of Noct’s spare blades?” Prompto said.

“I’m not sure. I figured that if I could warp, I could use the same weapons as Noctis,” Sora said, “Riku has the keyblade because it chose him over me.”

“Why are the duck and dog with him?”

“Their mission,” Sora said. Prompto rolled his eyes. “I have to confront him.”

“I’ve got your back,” Prompto said summoning his guns, “Noct and the others will…catch up later.”

“Thanks,” Sora said. He strode into the room where Riku waited. In a side alcove Beast spotted something.

“Belle?” Beast went for it, only too late to realize it was a trick. It became a shadow and the doors slammed shut behind him.

“Quit while you ca-where did you get that?” Riku looked just as surprised as Prompto had at Sora carrying an actual sword.

“No. Not without Kairi,” Sora said.

“The darkness will destroy you,” Riku said.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Prompto snapped.

“You’re really going to stick with him? Neither of you have weapons strong enough to combat the darkness.”

“You’re wrong, Riku. The darkness may destroy my body, but it can’t touch my heart. My heart will stay with my friends. It’ll never die!”

“Really? Well, we’ll just see about that!” Riku used a hand to send a shield out at Prompto shoving him out the doors and heartless locked it behind him.

“Hey!” several gunshots were heard, but the door didn’t take damage. Riku then turned his attention to Sora. He sent a large dark fireball at Sora who held his sword up, only to find himself restrained by a Shadow Sora. The attack was headed right for his heart. Sora closed his eyes. A crash made him open them. Goofy was in front of him. He’d blocked the blast with his shield. A few more shots burst the door open and Prompto took care of the shadow holding Sora still.

“Sora ain’t gonna go anywhere!” Goofy said.

“You’d betray your king?” Riku asked.

“Not on your life! But I’m not gonna betray Sora either, ‘cause he’s become one of my best buddies after all we’ve been through together!” Goofy gave Sora a thumbs up. Prompto looked less than impressed but he was also keeping his guns trained on Riku.

“See ya later, Donald. Could ya tell the King I’m really sorry?” Goofy waved Donald who finally moved.

“Hold on, Goofy! We’ll tell him together!” Donald switched sides and looked up at Sora awkwardly. “Well, you know, all for one, and one for all.”

“I guess you’re stuck with us, Sora,” Goofy said.

“Thanks a lot. Donald. Goofy,” Sora said. Prompto.

“How are you going to win with that weak weapon?” Riku gestured at the Blood Blade.

“I know now I don’t need the Keyblade. I’ve got a better weapon. My heart,” Sora said.

“And Noct’s arsenal of glowy weapons,” Prompto said.

“Prompto!” Donald squawked. Prompto shrugged.

“Your heart? What good will that weak little thing do for you?” Riku scoffed.

“All though my heart may be weak, it’s not alone. It’s grown with each new experience, and it’s found a home with all the friends I’ve made. I’ve become a part of their heart just as they’ve become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then...if they don’t forget me...then our hearts will be one. I don’t even need a weapon. My friends are my power!” Sora flung his free hand out and unexpectedly, the keyblade rejected Riku and reappeared in Sora’s hands.

“How is that possible!” Riku drew Soul Eater with a dark aura surrounding him. He took on an attack stance charging all of them. Sora engaged him blade to blade with the others serving as back up. Prompto switched weapons, and was peppering the silver haired teen with energy bolts from his auto-crossbow. Sora got a good blow on him, sending Riku across the room and into the entry way. The fight didn’t last much longer. Riku was no match for a group of four.

“No…not yet…” Riku lost his strange aura before he fled. Beast finally caught up with them.

“So, your heart won this battle?” Beast said. Sora nodded.

“Who’s your friend, Sora?” Prompto asked pointing at Beast.

“Oh, he’s the Beast,” Sora said with a smile, “He helped me through a rough spot.”

“He’s really strong,” Goofy said. Prompto gave him a flat look. Not enough energy to deal with _that_.

“We need to keep moving,” Donald said.

“What about Noctis, Iggy, and Gladio?” Sora said.

“What about us?” Noctis limped in, drenched while Gladio was covered in a few scratches and Ignis covered in a few splotches of oil.

“We managed to get the Regalia airborne again and landed her next to your vessel and we ran into Noctis as we made out way to the front gates,” Ignis said.

“Kept getting swarmed by nasties,” Gladio said. Noctis nodded. He looked around at the room, noting the damage to the door before he asked

“What’d we miss?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hollow Bastion is my favorite KH1 world. I love the design, I love the music. The only thing I don't love is how labyrinthine it can be in layout. That's not practical castle design! Then again, I think it can be argued that Maleficent cares more for aesthetic than function.....
> 
> In case anyone is wondering, Prompto's guns/MT weapons, Gladio's sword/shields, Iggy's spears/daggers, and Noctis's weapons are all magic imbued. Meaning, they are somewhat effective against the heartless like Goofy's shield: Noctis's royal arms, even more so. The Royal Arms are not quite on par with a basic keyblade, but better than usual.
> 
> Sorry for the lateness, but life happens.  
> I got a paper proposal accepted by the SWPACA conference in February. I also have a different paper accepted by NeMLA in April. So, academically things are going well. Financially.....um.....Anyway, we're past midterm now so I'm going to be swamped from here on out trying to get my school work done.  
> As a PhD candidate, my academics _must_ take priority. ~~that and taking time so I don't scream~~  
>  So, this story isn't dead but my updates might not be as prompt as they have been in the past.
> 
> Also, Happy Birthday Prompto! :D  
> He gets to do to Riku what I wanted to do to him when I first played KH 1 all those years ago.


	13. Hollow Bastion Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Sora, Noctis, and the others progress deeper into Hollow Bastion, the stakes are raised higher than ever. Truths are revealed and sacrifices are made.

“What happened?” Sora asked taking in Noctis’s bedraggled appearance.

“I fought a goddess and won, no big deal,” Noctis said.

“A goddess!” Donald squawked.

“Yeah, Noct’s summons are our gods,” Prompto said as he inspected an ugly looking statue off to the side.

“That makes Sora’s summons look all cute and cuddly,” Noctis said.

“Genie isn’t cute,” Sora said.

“You didn’t deny cuddly,” Gladio said. Prompto snickered as he poked at another statue only to have a trap door open up beneath his feet.

“Waahg!” he yelled and flailed for the edges, only for the door to snap shut.

“Prompto!” Noctis smashed an elixir before be rushed over to the panel on the floor.

“Missing someone?” Everyone whirled around to see Ardyn leaning against a wall.

“Where is he?” Noctis snarled.

“Below, with the other monsters,” Ardyn said.

“I think I know where,” Sora said.

“Oh, but what about the maidens?” Ardyn sneered.

“Kairi!”

“And your elder brother’s betrothed as well.” Ardyn leaned into Noctis’s personal space, “So, it’s your friend or the woman you love. Choose quickly, who knows how long the monsters below will tolerate an extra monster in their midst.”

“Beast, can you do me a favor? Can you lead Noctis and the others below. We’ll wait for you here so that we can help you rescue Belle,” Sora said, “Please?”

“Very well,” Beast said, “Follow me.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————

“That is a curious enchantment you are under,” Ignis said. Beast looked at Ignis sharply.

“How could you tell?” Beast said.

“Part of my training,” Ignis said, “Noct’s too, if he had been paying attention.”

“I was more preoccupied with the fact Prompto is in danger and so is Luna,” Noctis said.

“I’m sure Sora’ll save the ladies, and once he goes back, he’ll have this guy’s help too,” Gladio said.

“You and Sora don’t seem to be related,” Beast said.

“He looks like our mother while I look more like our father,” Noctis said. They reached the edge of a platform with a crystal glowing blue nearby.

“This crystal will summon a lift down. Good luck,” Beast said before he left.

“If we get a chance, perhaps we should see about breaking that enchantment on him,” Ignis said.

“I’ll put it on the to-do list,” Noctis said, “Right after reclaiming Lucis and toppling the Empire.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Riku had fled the battle, and didn’t stop until he reached the chapel.

“Why? It was mine.”

“ _Know this._ ” Riku stopped in his tracks, his breath catching in his throat. He turned around,

“ _The heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade_.”

It was a hunched up cloaked form that emerged from the literal darkness that glowed with unearthly energy.

“What? You’re saying my heart’s weaker than his?” Riku glared at him. As if he was weaker than Sora!

“ _For that instant, it was._ ” It felt like a slap to the face. Riku stared at the floor in shame.

“ _However, you can become stronger_.” Riku looked up, interested. The stranger walked further into the light, an “X” on his chest nearly visible, “ _You showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness. It held no terror for you. Plunge deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow even stronger._ ” Riku was hooked on the promise of more power. With that he could prove he was the worthier one, and that he would be the one to save Kairi.

“What should I do?”

“ _It’s really quite simple. Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself_.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Noctis fought heartless with a singled minded focus across the strange water-not-watery surface.

“This place either had some serious advanced tech or it’s a mix of magic and technology,” Gladio said.

“Probably both,” Ignis said.

“Whatever it is, we don’t have time to admire it,” Noctis said. The sooner they got Prompto back, the sooner they could catch up to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Beast, and the sooner they could save Luna. A familiar technical whirring was heard.

“Magitek!” Ignis said before he blocked the blades of an MT Assassin.

“I thought Ardyn didn’t want to help Maleficent!” Gladio said.

“Well, maybe he changed his mind!” Noctis warp struck an MT Axeman before phasing out of the way of a few dozen swings from another MT Assassin.

“Oh, you really think this is for her benefit?” Ardyn’s voice rang out, yet Ardyn himself wasn’t in view. “Perhaps I was getting bored and merely wanted to see how much your little friend means to you, and how much he’ll still mean to you after you’ve found out the truth. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.” Noctis snarled and forced his way forwards, with Gladio and Ignis scrambling to keep up.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

“This place is a maze,” Sora moaned. There was no way this was how a practical castle was set up. He’d have to ask Noctis about how their castle was set up, if their kingdom even had one.

“You said it! Disney Castle’s nowhere near as hard to navigate!” Goofy said.

“It would appear to be set up to deter intruders,” Beast grumbled. They entered the library, again, and Sora had the strangest feeling of déjà vû. He had been there before. He just _knew_ it. _That vision with Kairi as a child_.

“I have a feeling this place wasn’t always like this,” Sora said.

“You think Maleficent made it into a maze?” Donald asked.

“I do. We need to keep going, though.” Sora caught movement out the corner of his eye and turned to see the trailing end of a white shawl vanishing. Sora blinked and followed it into a dead end.

“You’ve come far, Your Highness.” Sora jumped and saw it was a dark haired woman.

“Who are you?”

“I am Gentiana, Messenger of the Six.”

“Shouldn’t you be talking to Noctis?” Sora asked.

“This message is for you: you have more to you than you know, keep your light strong.” She walked away, turning a corner and when Sora followed, she was already gone.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Noctis was not a fan of the maze, but thanks to warping, he was able to undermine it a little bit to help the others follow him through. Noctis saw a cell off to the side with,

“Prompto!” Noctis rushed to it only to reveal it was an MT, which sprang up and attacked him.

“Oh, looks like that was just a trick, how cruel of me.” Noctis pressed forwards with an angry sound that was a mix between a growl and a few choice swear words.

“You’re down here pursuing your pet instead of fulfilling your destiny.” Ravus had shown up. Wasn’t that just _swell_.

“We don’t have time for this,” Noctis said.

“But you have time for these little games the chancellor is playing?”

“We need Prompto to help save Luna,” Noctis said.

“What did you say?” Ravus looked at him.

“Lady Lunafreya’s here. She’s probably being held by Maleficent, the evil mistress of this Castle,” Ignis said, “An evil mistress with the ability to summon creatures of pure darkness.” Ravus narrowed his eyes.

“I shall agree to work with you, until Luna is safe,” he said.

“And you return my father’s sword,” Noctis said pointing to the glaive at Ravus’s waist, “It’s not like you can use it anyway.” Ravus pulled it off and Noctis held a hand out, turning it into crystal before it joined the rest of his armiger. To compensate, Noctis gave Ravus a spare blade to use instead.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

In the Great Hall of Hollow Bastion Maleficent stood gazing at the Keyhole. Riku stood next to her having taken on a strange new power, and new clothing to match. The dark bodysuit looked more like skin than armor, and the skirt it was paired with looked almost like hair. No matter.

“So, the path has emerged at last,” Riku said. His voice had an eerie quality to it, but what did she, the Mistress of All Evil, care?

“Yes. The Keyhole to the darkness.” Maleficent gazed at the glowing heart shaped portal. All that power just waiting for her command!

“Unlock it and the Heartless will overrun this world.” “Riku” said.

“What do I care? The darkness holds no power over me. Rather, I will use its power to rule all worlds.” Maleficent sneered.

“Such confidence.” “Riku” said. He held up his hand and a dark keyblade appeared, it’s teeth forming the idea of a heart.

“Oh!” Maleficent hadn’t counted on him conjuring up a different keyblade. This one seemed different than the one that _boy_ had. She waited for its magic unlock the keyhole, only for nothing to happen!

“Impossible! The Princesses of Heart are all here! It must be _her._ ” Maleficent walked over to where Kairi’s catatonic body lay.

“Without her heart, she will never be able to release her power.” “Riku” said. Footsteps echoed up the halls.

“It would appear those fools have arrived. I shall deal with them. Protect the Princesses.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Noctis still didn’t trust Ravus as far as he could throw _Gladio_ but in this situation, having the former high commander of the Nifs fight with them wasn’t too terrible, especially if it got them to Prompto faster.

“Did you know the former master of this castle also created monsters? He was so fascinated by the darkness he had to know more, much like how the MT’s are made, and they share a common source: People. Aw, and you’ve killed so many!”

“Is he lying?” Gladio asked Ravus.

“He is not, MT’s are clone produced for the sole purpose of being turned into a mindless killing machine. They’re even branded with a barcode like an item. They are exposed to the Starscourge over the course of their lives and become daemon/human hybrids. There is nothing that can be done by anyone to save them. Death is a mercy,” Ravus said.

“Would you say that about their little blond friend, I wonder?” Ardyn had appeared from a nearby twist of the subterranean tunnels they were in. He was gone as quickly as he’d appeared. A whimpering let them know where Prompto was.

Noctis rushed in first and it was the real Prompto chained to a pipe.

“Hey, what took you guys so long?” Prompto asked.

“Had to stop and get some souvenirs,” Noctis said slashing the chains off with the Axe of the Conqueror, “We should probably get back up to the main level of the castle before Sora gets in trouble.”

“Who is Sora?” Ravus asked.

“Look out!” Prompto yelled pointing at Ravus.

“Relax. He’s with us, for now,” Gladio said.

“Sora is an ally,” Noctis said, “He also happens to have a very nifty magic weapon that can open any lock that will probably come in handy in rescuing Luna.”

“If you’ll look to the left, you will find elevators to a room off the Entrance Hall,” Ardyn said.

“Should we trust him?” Gladio asked.

“We don’t have much choice,” Ignis said. Ravus nodded while Prompto gave a nervous laugh.

“Hey, what happened to your wrist—.” Noctis saw the barcode. Prompto looked down.

“So, um, I was supposed to be one of them,” Prompto said nervously.

“Well, you’re one of us now,” Noctis said punching his shoulder.

“Any reason you were giving the Duck and the Dog looks like you were ready to commit an out of character act of animal cruelty?” Ignis asked Prompto.

“I’ll tell you on the ride up.” Prompto said. Ignis punched the buttons and the lift shuddered before surging upwards.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Beast arrived in the Chapel to see Maleficent was waiting for them.

“I’m afraid you’re too late. Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable.” Maleficent said.

“We’ll stop it! After coming this far, there’s no way we’re gonna let that happen!” Sora said as he summoned the keyblade.

“You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me? Me, the Mistress of all Evil?” Malfiecent slammed her staff against the ground, causing green energy to radiate outwards. Sora dodged backwards.

“You bet we can!” Sora said.

 

“Fools!” Maleficent swirled her staff summoning lightning bolts, forcing them to dodge away from her. Sora threw the keyblade at her only to warp with it and begin unleashing a flurry of attacks on her, until a fireball forced him back. Beast picked up a piece of rubble, from her missed strike and threw it at her, forcing her to dodge right into a Blizzaga spell from Donald. Goofy took advantage of her freeze and teamed up with Sora who hit her from the other side with another flurry of slashes. Beast plowed her down with a roar, but he was sent into a wall, where he went dangerously still. Sora warped over to him, and found he was simply unconscious, but alive. Sora rejoined the attack and peppered her with more warpstrikes. He then joined Donald in a double magical attack, two lightning based spells that put the dark fairy down for the fight.

“How could this be,” she moaned. “Riku” appeared looking down at her.

“Do you need some help?” he asked.

“Riku!” Sora said. “Riku’s” appearance was really different. He turned to face them and in his hands was—,

“Is that—.”Donald squawked.

“Yes. A keyblade.” He held it up. “But unlike yours, this Keyblade holds the power to unlock people’s hearts. Allow me to demonstrate….” Without warning he stabbed Maleficent through the heart! “Behold!”

“Wha—.”Malficent grabbed at where her heart would be, just below the stab wound, which was oozing dark shadowy whips.

“Now, open your heart, surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!” “Riku” withdrew the keyblade before he vanished into a dark portal. Sora wasn’t given time to dwell on it. Maleficent’s laughter drew their attention.

“This is it! This power!” She was covered in green flames, and her dark cloak and shadow melded together as both grew, and grew until she was a great black dragon.

“Well, I never thought this would happen to me in real life,” Sora said, “Then again, this whole adventure’s been like that. If we can beat a giant octopus woman, a dragon shouldn’t be that bad!”

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Sora regretted ever saying those words. He had a burn on his side, hastily fixed with a “cure” from Donald, a soul gem he’d picked up while avoiding dragon fire, and Goofy was unconscious. They needed help and fast! Wait a second! Sora reached deep.

“Faith!” He twisted the keyblade and Tinkerbell appeared. She booped him on the nose before she flew about restoring everyone’s energy bringing them back up to fighting levels. She even booped the soul gem in his hand making it glow.

“Lend me strength!” Smoke shot out of the keyblade before a miniature dragon appeared.

“Let’s kick some honey-buns!” he said slamming a clawed fist into a clawed foot. He hopped on Sora’s head before he began rapidly hitting Maleficent with fireballs, distracting the dragon enough for Sora, Donald, and Goofy to rally and go on the offensive.

“Eyes and underbelly!” Goofy yelled. Sora nodded before he warp struck Maleficent’s face. There, on her chest was a pale purple scar. Sora warp struck that ending up with a high pitched wail. She was reduced to a pile of ashes and her cloak on the ground. The two summons nodded before Sora’s magical energy gave out, resending them. “Riku” was back.

“How ironic. she was just another puppet after all.” he said as he approached the cloak.

“What?” Donald said.

“The Heartless were just using Maleficent from the beginning. She failing to notice the darkness in her heart eating away at her. A fitting end for such a fool.” “Riku” ground a foot into the cloak before it inexplicably vanished.He turned away and walked up the stairs. Sora glared and ran after him. The alcove he was in was full of glowing cells. There were women in these cells.

“Jasmine!” Sora said upon seeing the Agrabah Princess. Next to her was a brunette form that had to be Belle. There were names elegantly carved into the sides confirming this. Across from Belle was a blonde woman labeled as “Cinderella” and next to her a black haired girl identified as “Snow White” and another blonde called “Aurora.” Across from Aurora was another blonde. She wore an elegant white gown and a crescent moon shaped necklace. Oddly enough, there was a trident in the case with her. Her name was listed as “Lunafreya Nox Flueret.” Wait, that meant this had to be Luna! He’d found her.

“We need to get her out of there,” Sora said.

“How?” Goofy said.

“I don’t know, but we can’t let Noctis see her like this!” Sora said. Sora looked up and his eyes were fixed on another still form. Kairi.

“Kairi!” Sora bolted across the carpeted flooring up the stairs, with Donald and Goofy scrambling to keep up. Unbeknownst to Sora, Goofy was blocked by a barrier, which confused Donald. Sora was only concerned about Kairi.

“Kairi! Kairi, wake up, please!” He’d scooped her up and gently shook her.

“It’s no use,” Sora looked up at “Riku.” He was lounging on part of the heart shaped arch around the glowing portal within it. “That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up.”

“What? You…You’re not Riku!” Sora said. There was no way this was Riku!

“The keyhole cannot be completed so long as the last Princess of Heart still sleeps.” “Riku” casually leapt off the arc and landed as if he hadn’t jumped from a great height.

“The princess? Kairi’s a princess?” Sora looked down at her. Then again, of the two of them, Kairi was the one more believable as royalty than Sora or even Noctis.

“Yes, and without her power, the keyhole will remain incomplete. It is time she awakened,” “Riku” said.

“Whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart!” Sora said carefully laying Kairi down and glaring at this stranger wearing his best friend’s face.

“But first, you must give the princess back her heart!” “Riku” pointed his dark keyblade at Sora who gasped from the pain that bloomed to life. He fell forwards clutching his chest in pain.

“Sora!” Donald yelled. He tried to reach Sora, only to have “Riku” knock him out of the barrier.

“What’s—.” Sora gasped.

“Don’t you see yet? The princess’s heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi’s heart rests within you!”

“Kairi…Kairi’s inside of me?”

“I know all there is to know.” “Riku” said.

“Tell me. Who are you?” Sora asked once he got his breathing back to normal.

“It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness.” Ansem stood over Sora with the dark keyblade. “I shall release you know, Princess. Complete the keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!

_Sora!_ Kairi’s voice! Sora raised the keyblade in the nick of time.

“Forget it! There’s no way you’re taking Kairi’s heart!” Sora spat. Ansem merely seemed amused and gestured a hand at Sora.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

“These Heartless never give up!” Prompto whined as they faced down the tenth Defender heartless in a row. Those shields bite!Noctis was getting dive bombed by Wyvern heartless who he simply warp struck and dropped down on to maximize the damage to them.

“If we can’t even get through this, what use are we?” Gladio asked slamming a Defender’s shield with one of his own before slicing the heartless in half with his sword.

“Are we any closer to the top?” Ignis asked.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Noctis said.

“Fantastic.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Sora was on the defensive but this fight was bizarre to say the least. He was fighting his best friend who was, for all intents and purposes, possessed by Ansem, a guy who apparently wasn’t as wise and wonderful as people thought he had been, since he was a bodysnatcher. Sora finally won and kicked Ansem into the portal, leaving behind the dark keyblade. The barriers around him shattered.

“Sora! Sora look!” Sora turned his head to follow the sound of Donald’s voice.

“The…the Keyhole!” Goofy pointed at the portal. Sora aimed the keyblade at it, but it refused to work.

“It won’t work! The keyhole’s not finished yet!” Goofy said. Sora dismissed the keyblade.

“What can we do?” Sora asked.

“Maybe we’ve gotta wake Kairi up,” Goofy suggested. It was her heart that was needed for it, after all.

“I think you’re right,” Sora looked over at Kairi, “If we can free her heart….but…but _how_?” Sora looked up before his eyes caught sight of the dark keyblade.

“A keyblade that unlocks people’s hearts….I wonder,” Sora mused a loud. Donald and Goofy exchanged looks, they did _not_ like where this was leading.

“Sora?” Goofy said. Sora picked it up and looked at it.

“Sora, hold on!” Goofy yelled.

“No, wait!” Donald said.

Sora smiled at them before he plunged the blade into his own chest and twisted as if unlocking a door.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Noctis heard the shouts.

**_“Sora, hold on!”_ **

**_“No, wait!”_ **

“Sora!” Noctis didn’t even both to look around, though Ravus had and was pounding his magitek arm on the glass of Lunafreya’s prison. He skidded to a halt at the scene of his brother stabbing himself with a strange dark keyblade.

“ ** _No_**!”

Noctis saw a strange blade turn into lights that split up into the air while a final light popped out of his chest. The girl on the ground nearby stirred.

“Sora!” He turned into a shimmer of lights.

“Sora! Come, back Sora!” Donald yelled.

“Sora, are you really—No! He can’t be, I won’t let him go!” Kairi yelled. Noctis was frozen. He’d failed as a brother. A distorted yell caught his attention. Ravus’s arm….was attacking himself.

“Oh, this is a dilemma. Darkness is on the rise, and now we have _this_ happening. If only there was a massive source of Light in this dreary place that could drive back the darkness.” Ardyn was back on the PA system.

“Where is it,” Noctis said.

“Right this way,” Ardyn said, “Of course, it’s your friends or the worlds. Make the right choice.”

“We’ll contain Ravus, you get to that crystal!” Gladio said.

“Right,” Noctis said sparing a glance back at where Sora had been before he took off.

“Where are ya going!” Goofy yelled.

“After the Crystal!” Noctis yelled back. He plowed through more shadows and in a room behind the chapel the whole time sat the Crystal. Prompto arrived behind him.

“Noct! There’s a guy about to attack Kairi!” Noctis looked back and touched the Crystal accidentally and found he was stuck.

“I can’t get loose!” He said, “Go help the others!” Prompto looked torn but he ran off.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Prompto arrived back to see a ghostly image of Riku holding back the silver haired weirdo. The Princesses were out of their cells and they ran with everyone, Ravus was missing an arm, and Ignis his glasses and an eye.

“It was the only way to save his life,” Gladio said, he made a sort of slicing motion, which let Prompto know he’d slashed the arm clean off.

“Keep up!” Prompto said as he led the way shooting at anything that moved.

“What happened to Noctis?” Goofy asked.

“The Crystal ate him!” Prompto said.

“It was supposed to,” Luna said, “It’s the only way he can absorb its power.”

“Then why was Ardyn so eager to lead us to it?” Ignis said.

“He’s the Immortal Accursed,” Ravus said gripping his arm, or where his arm had been previously.

“Destined to darken the skies,” Ignis said.

“Who’s Noctis?” Kairi asked.

“Our friend,” Prompto said, “If I’d been faster, he’d be here right now.”

“If _we’d_ been faster, so would Sora,” Donald said.

 

On their heels, a small shadow tottered after them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, funny story. I thought I'd already POSTED this chapter......  
> Sorry about that and the whole waiting thing. I only noticed because I was outlining this in hopes of motivating myself to finish this (it'll be 19 chapters long, 18 + epilogue). Therefore this really wasn't read with any sort of editorial sense. I'll probably comeback and fix the errors later.   
> As of now, it's later than I'll admit and I have a presentation tomorrow.  
> So enjoy Chapter 13 and I offer my sincere apologies but a lot's happened since the last update and now.  
> Some of it good. Some of it horrible. But stuff has happened.  
> I am a doctoral student, so, my academics come first, so while you are fortunate this chapter was already written, the next one won't be out for a few more weeks because finals week/trying to get some of my other late fics updated.


	14. Hollow Bastion Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope seems to have been lost with the loss of both Sora and Noctis. Yet, in the deepest darkness there is always light.

“Confounded, heartless! Get lost, will ya!” Donald was bopping a small shadow that had been dogging their footsteps as they fled. It didn’t seem fazed. Kairi stared at it.

“Sora? Is that you?” she said. The Heartless stared at her blankly.

“You can’t honestly believe—.” Ravus was cut off by a glare from Luna. More heartless appeared around the group. Mostly Defenders and Wyverns. Meaning this would not be pretty.

“Uh-oh,” Goofy expressed what the others were thinking. Kairi stood in front of maybe-Sora-the-Shadow-Heartless.

“This time, I’ll protect you,” She said looking down at the shadow. A few soldiers attacked her, prompting her to hug the heartless close to her chest with a “Sora!”

A bright light blasted the heartless away and Sora had reappeared in her arms, proving the little shadow had been him all along.

“Kairi, thank you.”

“Sora….”

“Sora!” the others said in surprise.

“We need go now,” Gladio said.

“We need to stay,” Cinderella said.

“What?”

“With our powers, we can hold back the darkness, just a little,” Snow White said.

“We’ll be fine, we have Beast to protect us,” Belle said.

“And me,” Ravus added, “I will not be leaving my sister behind.”

“We’ll be back,” Gladio said. Sora nodded to them, “All right, let’s get out of here.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Silence reigned in the cockpit of the gummiship. Sora was sure that the Regalia was equally silent.

**_Flashback_ **

_Sora looked at the group._

_“Where’s Noct?”_

_“He got absorbed by the Crystal. It happened so fast, I couldn’t save him.” Prompto looked down._

_“It was his fate,” Luna said._

_“His fate?” Sora asked._

_“As part of a prophecy he was the one Chosen to be the King of the Stone, destined to banish the darkness from our star and stay in repose and refelction within the heart of the star absorbing its light,” Luna explained. There were more heartless around them. She used a flare of golden light._

_“You must go. We have to stay to hold the darkness back,” Luna said._

_“But—.”_

_“Go!”_

———————————————————————————————————————————————

“Cid, we need to get back to Hollow Bastion,” Sora said after they’d rested up and explained what had happened to those from Hollow Bastion.

“With the way those Heartless are multiplying? Are you nuts!” Cindy shrugged.

“Can’t go through them,” she said.

“But they could go around ‘em! You’ll need a new navigation gummi. I hid it in the waterway under the second district. There’s a secret cave there with a mural on it,” Cid said.

“We’ll go get it,” Sora said nodding to Gladio and Prompto before he left with Donald and Goofy.

“I don’t get that kid at all,” Gladio said.

“Me neither, but we really don’t have time to fight with allies,” Prompto said, “Oh no, I’m starting to sound like Specs!”

“It was only a matter of time before my prudence wore off on you,” Ignis said joining them. His facial wound was bandaged up. There was a stitched up scar that nearly reached the other eye.

“Got lucky there. Anymore and you’d be blind,” Gladio said.

“My depth perception is off, but I suppose that is the only bright side to losing an eye,” Ignis said dryly.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

“Let’s do this,” Sora said once they returned with the new nav gummi. In Sora’s other fist was a charm.

 

_Sora entered the waterway and there was the mural and in front of it was Kairi._

_“What a mysterious mural... It’s almost hypnotizing.” Sora walked up to it and it changed from a day scene to a night scene, complete with a moon as a gummi block floated out of it into his waiting palm._

_“Let’s go back and join the others.” Sora said._

_“Okay.” Kairi stared at the moon while Donald and Goofy left the two alone._

_“A light at the end of the tunnel…” she said._

_“Oh, your grandma’s story, right?” Sora said._

_“That’s right. We were together,” Kairi said rubbing the back of her neck before she caught her self with a grin._

_“You know what’s funny? I looked everywhere for you, but you were with me all along. Finally, we’re together, Kairi.Now, it’s time to get Riku back,” Sora drew closer to her._

_“You think it’ll ever be the same again between us? Riku’s lost his…” Kairi trailed off. Sora shook his head._

_“When I turned into a Heartless, you saved me, remember?” he said. “I was lost in the darkness. I couldn’t find my way. As I stumbled through the dark, I started forgetting things—my friends, who I was. The darkness almost swallowed me. But then I heard a voice—your voice. You brought me back.”_

_“I didn’t want to just forget about you, Sora. I couldn’t.” Kairi shook her head._

_“That’s it! Our hearts are connected.” Sora placed a hand on his chest. “And the light from our hearts broke through the darkness. I saw that light. I think that’s what saved me. No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within. I guess it’s more than just a fairy tale.”_

_“Well, let’s go.” Kairi said._

_“You can’t go.”_

_“Why not?” she placed her hands on her hips._

_“Because it’s way too dangerous.”_

_“Come on, Sora. We made it this far by sticking together. You can’t go alone.” Kairi placed her hands behind her back._

_“Kairi, even if we’re apart, we’re not alone anymore. Right?” Sora said._

_“I can’t help?” Kairi pouted._

_“You’d kind of be in my way.” Sora chuckled a little. Kairi giggled._

_“Okay. You win.” Kairi grabbed his hand and placed something in it: her lucky charm._

_“Take this. It’s my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me.”_

_“Don’t worry. I will.”_

_“Promise?”_

_“Promise.”_

_“Don’t ever forget. Wherever you go, I’m always with you.”_

 

“Alright, we’ll get this data installed and you’ll be back to your mission in no time,” Cid said.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Hollow Bastion the second time around was in some ways harder and in some ways easier. They made it to the library without as much trouble this time through. Belle and Beast were in the library whenever they entered.

“The others are up at the keyhole,” Belle said.

“Thanks, Belle,” Sora said.

The others were cloistered around in the Chapel. Luna looked like an avenging angel with her trident in her hands. Jasmine had just finished up changing Ravus’s bandages.

“The keyhole is through there but we must warn you, it is full of more darkness than ever,” Luna said.

“We’re on it,” Sora said. Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto were silent but Donald and Goofy let out a,

“Leave it to us!” and a,

“Darn tootin’”

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Sora felt his skin crawl as he walked past the now empty alcoves where the princesses had been kept in their heartless states. Ahead was the completed keyhole and he could feel the roiling darkness rolling off of it in waves. Without a moment’s hesitation Sora held his key blade up and opened the gateway leading them into a strange realm of light and darkness with a simply massive monster before them.

“Deadeye, heartless edition!” Prompto yelped.

“Dead-who?—Whoa!” Sora dodged the monstrous creature’s paw swipe.

“It does look rather like the behemoth we fought prior but much more colorful,” Ignis remarked.

“Reminds me more of Cerberus, right Donald?” Goofy looked over at the duck mage who “bahhhh’ed” in response.

“Don’t remind me,” Gladio said.

“Whoa, wait a sec, you guys fought a _what?_ ” Prompto flipped over a tail smash and smirked.

“Hello _opening!_ ” Sora looked over and warped imitating something he saw Noctis do against a heartless and slashed at the behemoth’s side.

“Nice one, kid!” Gladio yanked Sora away from another swipe. Donald was going to town with Firaga spells.

“Iggy must have told him to use fire!” Prompto said. Ignis too was using more fire magic.

“Think you could get to a warp marker if we set one up?” Gladio asked Sora.

“Probably?” Sora replied. _Warp marker. Oh. Probably like it sounds, huh?_

“Iggy, now!”

“Rodger!” Sora looked over to where Ignis had impaled his spear into the ground and Sora warped over and leapt off the spear driving his key blade into the heartless’s side for one last push. It exploded into lights and its massive sized heart burst free and faded out of sight.

“I’m never gonna get over how literal these keyholes are,” Prompto said. Sora looked over at the floating keyhole at the end of the tunnel and shrugged before he aimed the key blade at it, locking it swiftly. Light surged and they were back where they’d entered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. Mostly.  
> There's an extra chapter now because what was going to be one chapter is now two and Hollow Bastion gains a part 4 as a result.  
> After mulling it over, I'm still not entirely sure how to incorporate a majority of the new FF XV lore...so I might not or if I do, I'm doing things my way because if we DO actually get KH3 this year (as if _that_ would actually happen) that will also affect my plans for this work and any other planned follow ups.
> 
> By the way, because of the troubles I've had with this I'm switching to a monthly update schedule.

**Author's Note:**

> Any recognizable dialogue is from KH/FF XV/Any Disney film that pops up.  
> Pop culture references are probably intentional.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [This Brotherhood of Ours](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12284061) by [Inquisitor_emi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inquisitor_emi/pseuds/Inquisitor_emi)




End file.
